The Daughter of Time
by Child of Kronos
Summary: Katrina, a young girl, is thrown into the world of gods and monsters when she realizes that she's a demigod, half human, half god. Soon, she is chosen to go on a quest for something that seemed trivial. Naturally, it turned out to be more important than they realized. But what happens when Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico - her questmates - find out the truth about her parentage?
1. Chapter 1 Percy

**Hi! This is my first fanfic, so don't kill me if my writing isn't very good. By the way, the story takes place between **_**The Last Olympian**_** and **_**The Lost Hero**_**, before anyone knew about ****Gaea rising and the roman camp, though they do know about the New Great Prophecy. Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO and all the characters in it except for those that I created myself, such as Katrina.**

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**Percy**

My day started normally enough, which proves that even the nice days can go horribly wrong. You want an example? Well, today was a pretty good one. I woke up early in the morning and took pegasus flying lessons along with the Aphrodite cabin. Nothing bad happen during the lesson, unless you call falling from your pegasus 10 meters in the air bad. But for a normal demigod, that was considered a _minor_ issue. Afterwards, I scaled the climbing wall in full eruption mode, which means that the wall spits out lava and rocks and shakes all the time. I even managed to make it to the top in just 15 minutes. Or was it 20? Anyway, I took a break from training and sat down on the beach with my girlfriend Annabeth, and we just chatted about everything under the sun. Okay, _almost_ everything under the sun. During that hour, life was peaceful, kind of nice. And that's when bam! Everything went wrong.

It started with the howling from the hellhounds. Oh, what are hellhounds? If you can imagine a huge black dog growling at you, then you pretty much got it. Just remember to imagine the red eyes, the slavering jaws and the fact the dog was at least the size of a horse. Of course, being a great hero, I rushed to the scene to find an 11 year old girl running away from hordes of hellhounds, empousa and dracaena. What are empousa and dracaena? Find out yourself 'cause I'm not going to tell you. The girl was running for her life, straight towards camp. There was no doubt that she was a demigod. Wow, that girl could really run, way faster than me. Then again, I'm slower than the nymph instructors at camp, and that's when they're in tree form. Yes, I'm really that bad, no need to rub it in. But let's get back to the girl. She was making good progress, almost reaching the border when she just had to trip on a rock. Did I mention that our luck is horrendous despite countless prayers to Tychee, goddess of good fortune? But then the Nemesis cabin prays to their mom, so maybe that's why. So the girl trips on the rock and lands face flat on the ground, giving the monsters the opportunity to catch up to her.

Naturally I ran forward to help, and so does Annabeth. I distracted the monsters by fighting them while Annabeth got the girl to camp. It was quite easy to destroy the monsters due to my Achilles's Mark, which makes me invincible. Cool huh. Soon, there were a few dozen piles of ashes around me. I recapped my sword (a.k.a. pen) _anaklumos_, also known as Riptide and put it in my pocket. Then I raced back to camp to find the girl.

**[insert line break]**

When I got back to camp, I found the girl in the Big House, and beside her was Annabeth and Chiron, the activity director in the Camp Half-Blood. Chiron was treating her hand and knees that got scratched when she fell. Other than that, the girl was fine. It was quite marvelous that she got here with such minor injuries, especially with so many monsters chasing her. I wondered who her godly parent is, giving her a strong enough aura to attract that much monsters. Then Annabeth asked her a question.

"What's your name? Mine's Annabeth, this is Percy and the centaur is Chiron."

"Katrina, Katrina Clearwater. And where am I? I got a weird feeling to come here, but I know absolutely nothing about this place. Can you help me?"

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**Yep! The "Daughter of Time" is Katrina. I'm pretty sure all of you already know who her godly parent is, but I'm not confirming anything. I know it's a very short chapter, but there wasn't much dialog to write. Dialog always make chapters soooo much longer. Anyway, it's the weekends now, so most likely I'll be able to write the next chapter tomorrow. See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2 Percy

**I'm back with the next chapter! Fast huh? It will be Percy's POV again, and I'll write Katrina's in the next chapter. This one is going to be much longer than the previous. Please enjoy and remember to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the characters that I created.**

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**Percy**

"Sure, I can show you around the place," I looked at Chiron, "Should we use the orientation video? It's rated PG, so she should be able to watch."

"Yes, she can. Annabeth, bring her there will you? Percy, get a bunk for her in cabin 11 and get her some toiletries and clothes." I turned to leave, but Chiron made a gesture with his hand, obviously meaning _stay_. Why on earth would he want me to stay? Well, I soon found out.

"Percy, who do you think her godly parent is? She doesn't even know that she's a demigod, and already a horde of monsters chase her. She's also not the age that monsters classify as 'trouble', so it's amazing that her aura drew so many. Do you think that she's a child of the Big Three?" Chiron asked after Annabeth lead Katrina out.

"We don't know. Anyway, if she's a child of the Big Three, we'll find out at the campfire tonight. If she's not, we'll also find out at the campfire tonight. So why don't we wait until then?" I know, I'm stating the obvious, but I didn't know what to make out of our new camper, either.

"I guess so, but I have a suspicio—"Chiron's words were interrupted when Katrina entered with Annabeth, "Greek myths are real? They're really real? You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

"No, we're not. They are real, and we are part of it, and so are you." I told her. "You understand what you are?"

"Yes, a demigod. So who's my godly parent?" At that, I look at Chiron. Who was he suspicious of? And why was it such a big deal? I decided to answer her question. "Well, we don't know either. But your godly parent will claim you tonight, at the campfire. But in the meantime, come with me. I'll show you around camp. Annabeth, want to come with us?"

"No, I can't. I have archery practice, and afterwards I have swordfighting all the way until night. So I'll see both of you at the campfire." And with that Annabeth left. I turned around and smiled at Katrina, "Come, you're going to enjoy it here."

**[insert line break]**

I decided to show Katrina the cabins first. "These are the cabins, one for each god or goddess. The gods are on the right side, the goddesses on the left. You will be grouped according to who your godly parent is. In the meantime, you can stay in cabin 11. Their patron god is Hermes, god of travellers, messages and thieves. Everything that uses the roads. So let's get you settled there."

We walked towards the cabin. There was much less campers in there now, after most of them got claimed. I went out and found some toiletries and clothes, then came back in and set them down on a bed. Then I heard some voices and looked up.

"So you're new. Regular or undetermined?" Connor and Travis Stoll were standing next to Katrina, talking to her.

"What do you mean?"

"Regular means that your father is Hermes, undetermined means that you don't know who your godly parent is yet." Connor patiently replied.

"Then I guess I'm undetermined."

"Is your immortal parent your father or mother?" Travis asked.

"I guess it has to be my father. After all, my mother is an author, so she's definitely human."

"So welcome to the Hermes cabin today, since you will probably switch cabins tomorrow. Unless, of course, your father is Hermes. We're the counsellors here, so if you need anything, just ask us. Or us me, since my brother hardly does anything, that lazy pig." Said Connor.

"Hey! I am not lazy!"

"You are."

"I am not!"

"Anyway, I want to continue showing you around camp. Come on." I said to Katrina, interrupting their argument. "There's so much you haven't seen yet!"

**[insert line break]**

So I showed her around the camp. "There's the stables where we keep the pegasus. No, Blackjack, I don't have any sugar cubes. Leave me alone. And there's where we do archery and javelin throwing practice. And there's the arena where we swordfight. There's the canoe lake where we do canoeing. Hey, Tyson! Your weight is going to tip the canoe over!" I called to a large boy who turned around and smiled. There was nothing wrong about him except that he had only one eye in the middle of his face. Yep, he is a cyclops, also my brother, and please, don't ask how I have a cyclops for a brother, you don't need to know. And then, just as I predicted, the canoe tipped and down went Tyson into the water. But my brother doesn't mind the water, so he's perfectly safe.

"And finally, there is where we have our meals. And behind that is the woods. You can go there whenever you want, but the woods are always stocked, so be sure to be armed, unless you want to lose a few limbs."

"Stocked with what?" She asked.

"All sorts of monsters."

"But why are they stocked?"

"Practice, practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

"Yep. The Hermes and Ares cabin loves them."

"Oh. So do I get my own weapon?"

"Yes, and let's go to the armoury to find one." We walked into the armoury, and began browsing the weapons. The Hephaestus cabin recently finished a whole load of weapons, so there was a large variety. In the end, Katrina chose a simple 3 foot long celestial bronze sword. "What kind of metal is this?"

"Celestial bronze. It's a metal that's deadly to monsters. You can't use tempered steel against them, you have to use this."

By the time we walked out, it was evening. I walked back towards the Poseidon cabin, but not before saying, "Katrina, go back to your cabin. Follow your cabinmates to the mess hall. I'll see you there when the campfire starts."

**[insert line break]**

I came out of my cabin and went to the mess hall pavilion with Tyson. Each cabin had their own table, covered in a white cloth and trimmed in purple. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. I took a large slice of brisket and walked towards the fire and dumped a big piece in. "For Poseidon." I muttered. Then I went back to my table and sat down.

As I ate, I saw Katrina throw a slice of brisket into the flames too. She seem quite happy, eating with the Hermes cabin, but I knew that she was curious about who her father was. Never mind, she would get claim tonight. After everyone had finished eating, Chiron pounded his hoof to get out attention.

Mr. D, who was also known as Dionysus, got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Thursday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." An ugly cheer rose from the Ares table. "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. And we have a new camper, Katherine Clearbottle."

Chiron muttered something into his ear.

"Er, Katrina Clearwater," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Also, Chiron has an announcement for all of you after everything. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered. As I got up and followed everyone to the amphitheater, I remembered that I forgot to tell Katrina about Mr. D. Ah well, I can always tell her tomorrow. At the amphitheater, the Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. After a few hours, Chiron stamped his hoof to get our attention.

"Campers! I have news from Olympus. The gods have sensed some powerful force somewhere in San Francisco. They would like a group of 5 to go on a quest to investigate. Also, the gods have spotted groups of demigods gathering there. I know that having 5 members on a quest is a bad idea, since the rule obviously stated 3 members, no more, no less, but it is the will of the gods. There is nothing we can do about that. So, who wants to go on the quest?"

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**The chapter is **_**still**_** not long enough, but I had to end it soon if I want to finish it by today. With all my homework and stuff, I really don't have time to write this. Since I spent so much effort writing this, I ought to be rewar****ded with lots and lots of reviews, right? Anyway, I'll post another chapter tomorrow, since I still don't have school. And it's Katrina's POV next. ****Also, did I get Dionysus's way of speaking right? He's way too sarcastic. ****Bye! **


	3. Chapter 3 Katrina

**Finally, I'm finished with another chapter. I know, I took a long time, but my teacher insisted on giving me all those homework. Anyway, enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except some of the characters.**

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**Katrina**

_San Francisco? San Francisco?_ There are demigod groups there? Then how come I didn't spot any? I live there! I didn't spot anything unusual at all! Not a single monster in sight! Then I remembered the time when I was 9. There was this super tall and creepy man following me to school. In the end the teachers ask him to leave the school grounds and question me about him, but they didn't believe me when I said that he had one big eye in the middle of his forehead. What were those things called in the myths? Cyclops. Could that stranger be one? And the other time, when I was 10, there was this group of cheerleaders who bullied almost everyone in school. Soon, they came after me. Said something about me not being to hide for long and then grew pale, crimson-red eyes and bronze and goat feet. When they leaped at me, I accidentally blasted them with flames. I think I panicked and shouted something like "Help! SOS! Freaking creatures are trying to kill me!" Of course, no one paid attention. So I screamed "FIRE!" in order to draw the teachers' attention. No one even glanced my way, but fire immediately enveloped the monsters, killing them. Before the campfire, Travis told me a list of monsters. I think those were called emposai, but I'm not sure. I'll confirm it with Travis later.

And once, when I walked towards San Francisco Bay, I did feel a strong presence. It was coming from a construction site there. Doing the natural thing, I ran away instead of investigating. By then I realized that 'strong presence = weird things are going to happen'. I mean, who _wouldn't_ run? Not that I'm trying to defend myself or anything. Nope, I'm definitely not trying to defend myself. I don't care what you think of me, even if you think that I'm a coward, or a chicken. I really, really don't care. Please believe me.

But let's get back to the present. Chiron is asking for volunteers. I can volunteer. After all, I kind of know where the "strong presence" thing is. And I'm not totally helpless. I can fight well. How else have I survived this long? So, I made my decision.

"I'll go."

Everyone looked at me like I was mad. Maybe I was. I was here for a day, and already I want to go on a quest. It's suicidal. But I could help. I could tell them a bit more about the presence. So I explained the reason behind my crazy decision.

"You said the presence is in San Francisco. I live there and I've been feeling that presence too. It's somewhere at San Francisco Bay. I can show you where."

"Annabeth lives there too. How come she hasn't sense anything?" Some stupid Apollo kid asked.

"I used to live in San Francisco, but I shifted to New York once I became architect of Olympus. It's possible that the presence only began recently." Annabeth said reasonably.

"Do you think it has something to do with the New Great Prophecy?" A Demeter kid that I recognized as Katie Gardner asked.

"Maybe." Chiron replied.

"New Great Prophecy?" What in the Underworld are they talking about?

"Yeah" Percy said, "The prophecy goes like this:

_Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call,_

_To storm or fire the world shall fall._

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._"

"But it says seven half-bloods, the gods want five." Annabeth objected.

"Let's discussed about who is going to the quest first. Then we can discuss about the prophecy. So should Katrina go or not?" Percy said.

"I don't care who goes and who stays," Dionysus interrupted, "as long as all five of you die. Choose her for all I care. In fact, she's going. She's inexperience, so it'll increase the chances of you all failing. Perfect. Now just choose the rest of the members. Go on." Yes, Dionysus is a really helpful director of the camp. Wonderful words of encouragement, right? Well, at least I get to go.

"Okay. Then that is one person settled. Now we still need four more volunteers. Who wants to go?" Chiron called.

"We'll both go." Annabeth and Percy stood up. So did another boy. He was skinny and totally dressed in black. "Me too."

"And me. I might be the first lieutenant of the Huntress of Artemis, but I can still go on quests. Phoebe can lead them in the meantime." A girl around 15 stood up. Strangely, she was glowing in a sliver aura, as if the moon decided to shine on her and her only. I noticed that some of the other girls also have a similar aura around them.

"Any objections?" Chiron asked the other campers. Nobody said a word. "Okay then. You all will leave in a week, maybe two from now. Until then, do your best to prepare for the quest. And now it's time to sleep. Good night."

**[insert line break]**

I wish I could tell you that I had present dreams, where I swim in the Caribbean or went surfing at the beach. No such luck. The moment I closed my eyes, I was in a cave, with howling spirits floating around me. In front was a huge, dark pit, and somehow I knew that it was bottomless. But something was in it, and it was trying to get out. It turned its attention to me, freezing me in place. Then it spoke, its voice so ancient that it chilled me to the core.

"Why hello, my daughter, so you came to Tartarus at last. Took you long enough."

"Who…who are you?" I demanded, "And why did you just called me 'daughter'?"

"I called you that because you _are_ my daughter. Why else would I call you that?" The cold voice answered in amusement.

"Then you're my father? Who are you?"

"It was foolish of you to accept the quest," That thing ignored my question, "Since you are my child. It's lucky that the Olympians haven't found out yet, or else their likely to blast you to ashes. But if you do succeed….they will be in your dept. That would be useful to me. So, I want you to pass it and come back alive. Do not fail me, or else…."

"And to answer your first question," it added, "I am Kronos, the titan lord of time."

The cave faded before my eyes. I woke up as sunlight streamed through the window.

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**Yes, Kronos is Katrina's dad, but I'm sure most of you guessed that. But you might be wondering about her powers mention at the beginning of the chapter, the thing with fire and all. Being a daughter of Kronos doesn't give you that kind of power. She got that power from her mom. Her mom is a demigod, daughter of _. I'm not going to tell you who her grandparent is, and the only clue I'm giving you is that she's a goddess. You'll have to guess the rest by yourself. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4 Katrina

**I'm sorry I took such a long time to write this chapter, but I have exams just round the corner. Due to that, I wouldn't be writing one more chapter for quite some time. Enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except some of the characters.**

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**Katrina**

I got out of bed, got dressed and thought things through. Kronos, my _fathe_r? That's ridiculous. Gods might get moony-eyed over a mortal, but a titan, especially the king of all of them? Not likely. But then, the voice was certainly older than any gods. It just might be him. Oh, what if he is my father? And how will Percy react? Connor and Travis keep going on about how Percy bashed him up, if he finds out who I am…no, I wouldn't think of it. It's just too horrible. Wait, Percy has battled Kronos before, so he would know how to describe him. I can ask him for confirmation. Yep, that's what I'll do. So I walked to the Poseidon cabin and began my enquiry about my "dad".

"Percy, can I ask you something?"

"You just did. But if you mean another question, go ahead."

"Can you describe Kronos for me?"

"Kronos?" Percy was clearly confused, "Why would you want me to describe him?"

I shrugged, "Just curious."

"Well, his voice is ancient, way older than the gods, and is raspy and metallic. His presence turns time to liquid and he radiates evil, so much that he can freeze you just by looking or talking to you. And when he possessed…someone, his eyes were gold."

"Oh." I replied. The voice that spoke from the pit was definitely ancient, and he did freeze me in place just by looking at me. Oh great. Kronos is my father. I've just confirmed that. Now what do I do? I guess the easiest thing to do is to keep quiet about it, and continue living in Camp Half-Blood. Since I had no other choice at that time, I decided to do that until I could think of a better solution. So I went back to my cabin, took my sword, and got ready for some swordfighting, which was our first activity.

I was just about to leave the cabin along with everyone when I spotted something on my bunk. I bend down and picked it up. It was a necklace with a silver scythe pendent. The symbol of my dad. I grabbed the pendent and the whole thing began to morph. The scythe grew bigger and the silver turned to celestial bronze. The necklace disappeared as well. Soon it was a full-sized weapon. There was a topaz stone set in the hilt. On an impulse, I twisted it, and the hilt suddenly shortened and the blade shot up, so instead of a scythe, I was holding a 3 foot long celestial bronze sword. There was writing on the hilt. It read: Κατρίνα Κλιαργουότερ. Katrina Clearwater, my name. Before anyone else could see it, I shrank it down to the necklace and wore it around my neck, then rushed out to join the rest of my cabinmates.

**[insert line break]**

Before I knew it, it was Thursday, the day for capture-the-flag. Our team was with Athena, Apollo, Demeter, Poseidon, Nike, Phobos and Deimos. The opposition team was Zeus, Hades, Dionysus, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Palaemon, Melinoe, Nyx and Nemesis. Hypnos was supposed to be on our side, but they were snoozing. Morpheus as well. How surprising. Today, we were the blue team. We had set the flag at Zeus's fist (more commonly known as the Poop Pile) and had Demeter cabin to guard it with poison ivy or something. A few Apollo cabinmates were stationed there as well. Nike, Phobos, Deimos and Athena were going to attack the opposition and distract them with the rest of the Apollo campers. Poseidon cabin (a.k.a. Percy) was supposed to defend the creek with whirlpools and hurricanes so that no one can cross except the members from our team. We were supposed to 'steal' the flag as that was our specialty. We all got to use magic items. I chose to use my new scythe. When I first used it in training, I was afraid someone would ask how I got it. Thankfully, no one did, but Connor did comment that it looked nice. From then on, I kept it near me. He just might steal it. Soon, Chiron blew the horn to start the game.

I morphed my necklace and the scythe sprang into my hand. I decided to call it _Xpovos_, ancient greek for time. I rushed into the woods, away from bulk of the battle. After running around 50 meters, I met Nico, facing the other direction. He must have heard my footsteps because he started to turn around. But before he caught sight of me, I felt dizzy, like when you're in a rollercoaster, and the trees blurred into a speeding green mass. A fraction of a second later, just as Nico completed the turn, I was in front of him by about 100 meters, out of sight. I leaned on a tree, breathing hard. Whatever I just did, it took up a lot of my effort. I guessed I simply sped time up around me, and completed what would have taken a minute or two to do in a split-second. I steadied my breathing and looked around me to find the flag only a few meters away. There were some elaborate traps around it, made by the Hephaestus cabin, and some wicked thorns by Dionysus cabin. There were guards from Melinoe and Nemesis. There were people from Aphrodite too, but I didn't count them because all they were doing was gossip. I could have mistaken them for children of Pheme. There were too many guards to defeat on my own. Just then, Nike cabin broke through the dense trees and rushed at the guards, who all started fighting except those whose mother was a certain goddess of love. The guards had formed a defensive ring around the flag, and there was no way I could sneak around and get it. So I did the logical thing. I entered the battle.

I swung _Xpovos_ at a Melinoe camper first, who was the closest to the flag. She raised her sword to meet mine, and our blades clashed together. I twisted the scythe, and its long hilt knocked her sword to the ground. I was about to knock her unconscious when she smiled, raised her hands and intoned "Άνοδος και μου χρησιμεύσει." _Rise and serve me_, I translated. Cracks began to open up on the ground, and ghosts rose from the gapes. They were all dressed in battle armor, and armed with swords and spears. Just my luck, to have to fight a troop of ghosts _and_ the other campers before I can reach the flag. So I did the only I thing that I could do. I closed my eyes and imagined the world slowing down. I didn't feel any fast-forward action, like I did in the past. Instead, I felt nothing at all, but when I opened my eyes, everything was barely moving. Birds ahead beat their wings at the speed of half a mile per hour. Swords were coming down sluggishly, one inch per second. My opponent's ghost were taking forever to unsheathe their swords. I took an experimental step forward and found that I could move at normal speed. I smiled. This was brilliant, nobody could possibly win against me now. I moved into action.

This time, everything was easier, using a lot less energy. Before the girl could blink, I ducked under one ghost, came up and stabbed one, then swung around and slashed apart another three. The blade sliced through the armor like it was liquid. I slashed and stabbed in a most unorthodox style. In just one second, all the ghosts had vaporized into ghostly vapor. I threw my blade at my opponent, who was staring at me open-mouthed, knocking her out cold. Strangely, _Xpovos_ returned to my hand after landing on the ground. I've never experienced that yet. Maybe I just unlocked some secret power in the scythe or something. I turned around to face another camper when a volley of arrows appeared from those Apollo cabinmates who aren't guarding our flag, knocking out some of the red team members. Nike cabin continued attacking the remaining guards. There was no one blocking my way to the flag. I leaped forward, grabbed it, and ran away, speeding up time slightly. I burst out of the trees and found myself in the middle of a battle, much larger than the one before. Nico was surrounded by an army of skeletons. Thalia was busy shocking people with small blasts of energy. Our teammates from Phobos and Deimos were scaring the red team out of their wits. A few were even crying. At the creek a few meters away, Percy was battling the Palaemon cabin, water powers against an army of sharks. Thankfully, Percy was on the winning side. I launched into super speed, striking down skeletons, dodging electrical blasts, countering sword thrusts and, most importantly, protecting my flag. In no time at all, I was out of the battle before anyone even realized that the flag was with me.

I ran towards the creek, normal speed this time since I was too tired to do anything else. Percy saw me and was about to create a bridge made out of water when I got a strange impulse. I shook my head at him and ran forward. Just before my feet submerged in the water, I shouted "freeze!" I know, it sounds stupid, like a policemen shouting that out to a bunch of unruly children, but the water froze into ice. Luckily Percy was standing on top of the water, so he wasn't affected. I'm afraid to say that the sharks and campers from the Palaemon cabin weren't as fortunate. They got stuck in the ice. I ran across the frozen creek and leaped to the other side. The flag banner changed to a caduceus over a grey background. Percy raised his sword and shouted "We won!"

The battle stopped immediately. Everyone turn to look at me, shock evident on all their faces. How I got through all of them fighting was beyond them. I wasn't going to explain to them my newfound powers. It would give away my father's identity and then everybody will hate me. So I didn't say anything and they just kept staring at me until Chiron broke the silence by saying "The winner of today's capture-the-flag is Katrina from the Hermes cabin!"

Afterwards, there was this announcement about me winning and even Dionysus's speech couldn't dampen my mood. He said something like "So, the newbie, whose parent doesn't even bother to claim her, won. Oh goody. Now maybe she would get claimed. The other gods always get so proud when one of their children wins something. I wonder how they can get proud when their children are certainly nothing to be proud of. Now go on and give her the laurel wreath. And quickly. I want to get this over with." Maybe it didn't affect me because my parent did claim me, I don't know. So Percy got the laurel wreath and placed it on my head. Then there was the normal campfire sing-along and then everyone went to bed. Did I mention that capture-the-flag normally takes up a whole day?

So I went to bed along with my cabinmates. We were all in a good mood and they all kept congratulating me, despite most of them being too tired to open their mouths. I plopped down on my bunk and hoped for a peaceful, dreamless night. And, for once, my wish was granted.

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**Next is Thalia's POV. Or maybe Nico's. I bet you still can't guess who Katrina's mother's mother is! I'm sure most of you are guessing Hecate. Well, you're wrong! I'll probably review it in the next chapter. Please comment and review!**


	5. Chapter 5 Thalia

**I'm sorry I took such a long time to write this chapter! By the way, I just read the Mark of Athena, and it was awesome! Though I can't believe I have to wait until Fall 2013 before I can read the House of Hades. I just so unfair! Can't Rick Riordan write a little faster? Around ten months faster would be perfect. Of course, that wish would never come through…but enough of my whining. Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except some of the characters. (This is getting old. Haven't I said this enough times?)**

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**Thalia**

It was the day of the quest. Nobody was excited, of course. Quests usually meant trouble. Quests usually meant danger. Quests also usually ended up with a few of your friends dead. Who could be excited for something like that? Anyway, today's plan was simple: Pack your bags, go to the Big House and receive your prophecy from Rachel, go on your quest and improvise, a lot. Did I forget anything? Oh yes: Try not to die. Who could forget such an important part? As you can probably tell, I was feeling rather pissed off at that moment, due to the fact that I just a dream about my dad. As usual, he wasn't very polite. But then, who could blame him? It's not easy to be polite when you're asking your daughter to kill someone that you have gotten to know, and gotten to like.

The dream began like this. I was sitting on a guest chair made of Celestial bronze, in Olympus. My father, Zeus, was frowning, which was not surprising, since he does that most of the time. But I could tell that he was more annoyed than usual 'cause he was agitatedly fiddling with his lightning bolt. That was not a good sign. Thankfully, his anger didn't seem to be directed at me.

"We have a big problem." He said.

"What problem?" I asked. The last time I checked, the only problem was the quest, and surely my father wasn't worried about me accidentally dying while doing it. And if he meant the unknown forces gathering at Sans Francisco, he didn't have to call me here to tell me. I already knew. And he already knew that I knew. So what problem was he talking about?

"Katrina. That girl. She arrived at camp recently, didn't she?"

"Well yeah," why was my father calling her a problem? She was a good friend, not in the least psychotic (unlike Percy). "What about her?"

"Has she been doing anything abnormal? Has she been exhibiting some weird powers?" Zeus asked, completely ignoring my question.

"None that I know of." I answered. "Wait, something weird did happen during the recent capture the flag. Katrina seemed to have vanished, and then appeared with the flag on their side of the creek, winning the game. But what does that have to do with the problem?"

"It has everything to do with the problem! On the quest, if you see Katrina do anything suspicious, stop her and lock her up or something, even kill her if necessary. I will not take any chances!"

Zeus had lost me. "What do you mean by not taking chances?"

"I meant that I'm not taking chances when that girl is concern! Especially because of her father! She could ruin this whole quest if we are not careful."

"Who in the Underworld is her father?"

"You don't need to know. Just we wary of her, and make sure she doesn't betray you. If she does, then you're all dead. Good luck on the quest. The future of Olympus might be on the line."

"The future of Olympus? Don't tell me it's going to be the Titan War three….dad? Dad!" I screamed as Olympus faded to gray and finally to black. And that was when I woke up.

**[Insert ****line break]**

Now, back to the present. I was supposed to decide on what objects to bring. The camp had already supplied each of us with a bottle of nectar and a bag of ambrosia squares. I took up my bow and arrows and slung them across my back. They disappeared and the weight on my back lessened. They were really awesome, made to appear when their needed, and to stay away when their becoming dead weight. I grabbed my retractable spear and Aegis (a.k.a. the watch) and added a book to read into my pack. Each of us had gotten a hundred dollars in cash and around twenty drachmas. Contented that I already had everything that I needed, I slung the bag on top of my bow and headed for the Big House.

Nico, Katrina and Rachel were already there, waiting. Percy wasn't here yet (and nobody is surprised), but Annabeth wasn't either, which was weird. She should have been the first one here, screaming at us for taking even a minute to pack up. I sat on one of the chairs by the Ping-Pong table and waited. Five minutes passed, then ten. I couldn't believe Annabeth would take so long. Finally, after fifteen minutes or so, they arrived.

"Sorry," Percy explained, "But my fountain was a little spoilt, and I asked Annabeth to help me fix it. Hope we didn't make you wait so long."

"Oh no," Nico replied sarcastically, "We only waited for around twenty minutes for you, that's hardly any time at all."

"We're really sorry. Percy just wanted to fix it in case he doesn't manage to come back…" Annabeth's voice broke at the last word, and she refused to say any more.

"So Rachel," I hurriedly changed the topic, "We would like to hear how each of us would die in the prophecy. Can you please get on with it?"

Rachel smiled. "Normally, the prophecy is delivered in my cave, which Apollo constructed. However, I though you would prefer I told you it here, especially since it's not a good one."

"Wonderful, a prophecy which foretells our doom. I can't wait to hear it." Percy said.

Rachel's eyes began to glow eerily green, and mist, both the normal and magical kind, swirled underneath her feet. When she spoke, she sounded as if three Rachels were speaking as one. She said:

_"Five shall venture on this quest,_

_ That leads them to the furthest west._

_ A journey where many dangers loom,_

_ To try to prevent the world's doom._

_ It shall start and finish on a bay of sand,_

_ And two shall leave them at the end."_

And with that, Rachel closed her mouth and slumped back on her chair, exhausted, leaving us to think about what we just heard.

**[Insert line break]**

"So now what?" Percy asked.

"Well, two of us are going to die on this quest, aren't they?" said Annabeth.

"Let's not think about it. It's not going to help. Anyway, according to the prophecy, we're supposed to go to San Francisco, which is in the far west. It also says that the journey would start and end on a bay of sand. Do you think it's the same bay?" I said.

"That's easy to figure out!" Katrina exclaimed, "We're supposed to meet Argus at the beach. He is giving us a ride into the city, right? That's where our quest is going to start!" There was a murmur of agreement. Even I had to agree that what she said made sense. I was starting to realize that she would be useful in a quest, especially if she could pull of another stunt, such as the one during capture-the-flag. However, I was still puzzled by what Zeus said. Kill her if she betrays us? Why would she betray us? And how could I kill another demigod?

"Though I have no idea what it means by our quest ending there." Katrina continued.

"Maybe we took a boat back, and landed at the beach after we solved the quest." Nico suggested.

"I don't think so," Annabeth said, "Because we would solve the quest somewhere else, then come back and land on the beach. It's different from ending the quest there, you know."

"No, I don't know. And what do you think it meant by 'to try and prevent the world's doom'. Why do I find that sentence familiar?"

Percy pretended to contemplate that, then snap his fingers. "I know! It's because we've already done that before!"

"Is it during the titan war? You saved the world from my d…I mean, Kronos?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah, Percy bashed Kronos back to Tartarus, while I was stuck under Hera's bloody statue!" I complained. "Hera's really mean. Wait, strike that. She's pure evil. We were trying to save Olympus, and she had to make it as hard as possible for us. She is such a nice aunt." I nearly asked her what she was about to say before she switched her words to "Kronos", then decided not to. I was probably no big deal.

"I know," Annabeth agreed, "I really did love the little blobs of cow poop she left all over my house and school. Really considerate of her. Anyway," Annabeth checked her watch, "I think it is time to go to the beach now. Let's not keep Argus waiting."

**[Insert line break]**

"We need to take a detour." Nico announced in Argus's van as he took us to Manhattan.

Everyone turned to look at him. "Umm, Nico? Do you know that this quest would be hard enough as it is, with five demigods traveling together, without going on detours? Do you really want us to be attacked by monsters fifty times a day until we get to Sans Francisco?" Annabeth asked.

Nico shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I know, I know. But this is important. Whatever the force is in Sans Francisco, it has comes from the Underworld, which means that we need a specific item, which also means that we have to go to my father's castle to take it."

Percy's jaw dropped. "Do we have to? I mean, can you get it some other way?"

"No," Nico seemed very sure about that, "It has to be there."

I sighed. "If there is really no choice then Argus, let us off at Los Angeles."

**[Insert line break]**

We were sitting in Charon's ferry, getting shipped off into the Underworld. Out of the five of us, Nico seemed to be the only one at ease. Percy and Annabeth were grabbing each other's hand like it was their lifeline. Katrina kept wringing her hands together, and I kept glancing left and right. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, we reached the end of the River Styx. Nico got off the boat and walked confidently towards Cerberus, with the rest of us following behind. The ghost parted before him like he had some rare disease, so it was no trouble to get through the E-Z death line.

Soon, we reached the garden of Persephone. Nico turned around to us and said "I think it's best if I go in alone. I don't think Hades is very eager to meet all of you, especially you, Percy. So stay outside and wait for me, okay?"

As Nico turned around to go into the garden, which, for some reason, was a horrid display of colours, I stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "Death boy, before you leave all of us stranded here like a herd of water buffalo, you are going to tell us what item is so, so, so precious that we have to go all the way to hell in order to fetch it, yes?"

Nico smiled. "It's none other than the Keys of Hades."

**[Insert line break]**

After Nico had left into the multi-coloured garden, with me and Percy staring at him open-mouthed, Annabeth scowled. "What in the Underworld is the Keys of Hades?" she demanded.

"The Keys? Oh, they are just keys, I guess, but each of them has the power to unlock death. Maybe Nico thinks that we have to lock someone up in the Underworld." I told her.

"Like who?" Percy asked.

"How would I know? Got any ideas, Annabeth?"

Annabeth hesitated for a while, "Well, it would be either a very powerful monster or a titan. If it was anything else, we could just slash them to dust." For some reason, she seemed to be holding something back.

"And do you have a suspicion on what creature it is?" I pressed.

Annabeth bit her lip, clearly unsure of what to do. "Well…yeah. But I don't want to mention it, Okay?"

"Fine," Katrina said, "That's all right. After all, we all keep secrets." I looked at her curiously when she said that. We all keep secrets. Was she hinting that she was keeping one too? Before I could ask her, a clear, cold voice rang out:

"Why hello. We meet again, Jackson."

[insert line break]

We all whirled around. Percy uncapped Riptide, Annabeth took out her knife, Katrina morphed her scythe Xpovos (which I found a little weird. Who would ever use a scythe and call it time? It brings to much bad memories) and the bow appeared in my hands, along with the weight of a full sheaf of arrows. We all posed, ready to attack, when suddenly the ground began to crack around us, and a legion of skeleton warriors emerge. Before we could do anything, a figure materialised from the shadows. Hades.

"What do you want?" Percy snapped.

"No need to get rude," Hades said, "it's just that I wanted to welcome you here."

"Fat chance of that ever happening." Percy muttered.

Hades smiled. A cruel, cocky smile. "It's true. I want to welcome you to my prisons. You insulted me, Jackson, and humiliated me when you escaped from my dungeons. Also, all the gods want you in prison, Katrina, and guess I'll have to be the one to do it."

I frowned. "Why would the gods want her in prison?"

"Because of whom her father is. Her father and mother combined have given her too much power. Having an immortal parent as well as having a demigod as a mother is making her a hazard, a loose cannon. We can't have any loose cannons in this quest."

My stared at Hades, then at Katrina "Your mother is a demigod? Daughter of whom?"

"I don't know!" She said. "I didn't even know that my mother was a demigod! My father didn't tell me…"she trailed off, as if realising that she had said too much.

"Your father didn't tell you?" Hades said, feigning surprise, "your grandmother is Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, languages and literature. Which is why you have to watch whatever you say, because your words have a tendency to come true.

"And now," Hades snapped his fingers, and skeleton handcuffs magically appeared, binding our hands together. "It's time you go to your prison. I hope you enjoy your stay in the worst prison of all, Tartarus."

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**Sorry that I took absolutely forever to write this! The next chapter that I post would be either tomorrow or Saturday, I swear on the River Styx. Cookies to all reviewers!**


	6. Chapter 6 Nico

**Yep, My exams are finally over, so I'll be posting a lot more often. And I kept my promise, this was posted on Friday! This chapter is from Nico's point of view and I'll be writing about Percy, Annabeth, Katrina and Thalia being ****stuck in Tartarus in the next chapter. Please R&R!**

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**Nico**

I was pacing around the room, kicking any stray sparks of the weird green fire that lit up the walls. I wanted to scream, throw a tantrum. I couldn't believe my father was really so mean, nor could I believe that I've just got locked up, powerless to help my friends.

Soon, I got tired and laid down on my bed, staring gloomily at the bronze and obsidian walls. For a room in a castle that was five thousand years old, it was pretty high-tech. I had a PSP, a Nintendo, a Wii...everything that I could ever want. But today, I wasn't interested in playing, not when my friends were going to die. Why did Hades have to send them there, of all places? A simple dungeon is one thing, but there, the greatest dungeon of all time, was another. No mortal could possibly get out alive.

Under the current circumstances, it was amazing that I even managed to close my eyes, let alone sleep. But I did fall alseep, and since dreams always accompany sleep, it wasn't a pleasant one.

When I opened my eyes in Dream World, I was back in the throne room of my father. I saw myself enter the room and walked forwards purposefully. I realized that my mind was replaying the events that happened only a while ago, the events that got me grounded in my room.

"Dad, I come with a request. I need the Keys of Hades." the other Nico, the one in the dream, said.

"My Keys? What for? You know that I can't just give you something so valuable unless you have a good reason." My father replied. He was sitting on his obsidian throne, with the Helm of Darkness on his head. Even in a dream, I could feel the terror the Helm created.

"But you already know, dad. I need the keys to lock up...whatever is in Sans Francisco. If it's what I think it is, we need an object with a connection to Tartarus."

"Hmm, yes, it is what you think it is. You would need the keys to complete the quest. Unfortunately, I can't just hand over the Keys to you. I need to know that I can trust you with them."

"Dad! You know that you can trust me with them! What would I do, drop them down a pit? Set them on fire? Cause them to explode?" My other self complained.

"Don't complain," Hades snapped, "Unless you rather I don't give them to you at all. If you want a Key to Tartarus, you better do what I want. And, speaking of Tartarus, I am going to lock your friends in it. I take it that they are still waiting outside for you?"

Nico (the other one) stared at my father in shock. "Dad! Their my questmates! You can't just go and lock up every hero you don't like! How am I suppose to complete the quest without them?"

"But you don't need them yet." My dad said pleasantly. "You have to do something for me first, before you can get the Keys. And I forbid you to take any of your friends from Camp Half-Blood. If you do, I'll count it as forfeit. I want an item, an object sacred to the gods. Right now it is in the possession of Nyx, goddess of the night. It's located in the isle of Nyx, somewhere in the sea of monsters. Retrieve the item and give it to me, and I'll give you a Key in return."

"The isle of Nyx?" My past self asked. "I've never heard of it before."

"Of course you haven't! Nyx bought it only recently, about a century or so ago. She hidden the item there. She also enchanted the islands with spells, so that you could only enter each island on a specific time. The are five islands, and you can only enter the first one at midnight, the second one at one o'clock, and so on. Those five islands surround a bigger island, which is where the item is hidden. Unfortunately, you can only get there by collecting five objects, which can be found on the five smaller islands, one on each island, with a monster or obstacle guarding each jar. The jars should be at the center of the islands. The moment you retrieved a jar, a tunnel will appear that leads to the next island. Of course, you still have to wait for the specific time of entry. Start with the island that opens at midnight. I can give you some help on this task, but not much. What's the point of doing all this to prove yourself if a god does everything for you? Now, I need to greet the prisoners that you so kindly brought for me, go back to your room to prepare." Hades waved his hand, and the throne room spun in circles, and I must have fainted or something, because I can't remember anything else.

**[insert line break]**

I woke up to my alarm clock ringing, gorgly and exhausted despite the sleep. It must have been morning, though you couldn't tell in the Underworld since everything was dark and gloomy, even in Christmas. My alarm clock showed eight o'clock, which meant I must have slept for a whole twenty four hours. Shocking, especially when I have a whole load of other things that I have to do. The first thing, or course, was to get the Keys. Maybe after I've gotten them, I could free Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Katrina. Then we could set out on our quest for the gods.

I slung my pack onto my shoulder. In it was a bottle of nectar, a few ambrosia squares, and all the other demigod necessities, including a flashlight. My father promised that he had a boat ready for me, so I went to the River Styx to check it out.

It was a nice, simple speedboat. It looked perfectly normal, except for the fact that it was jet black and made out of obsidian and celestial bronze. No way that thing would be able to float, but it did. Luckily I learned a bit of sailing from Percy, or I would have been at a lost of what to do. Starting up the engine, I cruised out of the Underworld.

Getting out of hell was easy, getting to the Bermuda triangle was not. In the end, I gave out trying to navigate and simply shadow-traveled into the sea of monsters, boat and all. I appeared a few hundred yards away from the isle of Nyx, in the shadow of a stone outcrop. I settle comfortably into the boat and ate a snack, waiting for midnight. I looked left and right: No monsters. "Good," I said to myself, "I might finally be able to get some peace, without having to fight for my life."

I knew I shouldn't have jinxed myself, because you know what happen immediately afterwards.

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**Now on to the four prisoners! Cakes are being given out to ****reviewers! In the rest of the story, I would only be writing Percy, Katrina and Nico's POV, and very rarely any from Thalia and Annabeth. I know it's very mean of me since Annabeth hasn't have a POV yet, so I'll do one for the next chapter, but that would ****probably be the last one. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7 Annabeth

**Ok, here's one more chapter! I'm feeling a little lazy today, so I'll skip the disclaimer. You're all know who owns PJO and HoO, so why bother? Anyway, there's finally some action in this chapter. But it's not going to be very good, as I just suck at fight scenes. R&R please!**

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**Annabeth**

Today was my worst day ever. Which was saying something since I have a lot of bad days. Why was my day bad? I'll give you three reasons: Firstly, we all got thrown into the world's worst prison ever, and while Hades could have used a five star aeroplane to drop us down, he simply brought as to the edge and let go. Secondly, he threw our bags down along with us, each attached with a mocking thank-you note saying how grateful he was to us for coming to his castle willingly. And lastly, minutes after we landed in Tartarus, we met the psychotic human shark.

Who was the psychotic human shark? Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I'll explain everything. It started (obviously) when we landed in Tartarus.

Hades's soldiers had dragged us over the edge. As I said earlier, all our bags had cards attached. "I hope you like it in there. And, to make you survive a little longer," he threw our packs down into the pit, "you can have your bags. I have no use for them."

"You can't keep us like this! We have a quest to do!" Thalia screeched. I couldn't blame her for being angry. Who wouldn't be furious to be dumped into a prison when you've done nothing wrong?

Hades chuckled. "Ah, your little quest. I'm afraid my son was right: you do need the Keys of Me. But I have a little job for him to do, before I give him the Keys, so while he is doing the errant, you can stay locked up in Tartarus. Don't worry; I'll release you once he finishes what I want. But until then, try not to die." Before he could say anymore, and before I could curse him (the swearing kind, not the magic kind), his skeletons threw me into the pit.

The fall was terrifying. It might not seem like such a big deal, since I fell from a cliff before (long story), but this was much worse. It felt like my insides have been taken out, chopped up, rearranged and squashed back in. Not a nice feeling at all. I was falling so fast that the wind stung my eyes, so I couldn't see if everyone else were still with me, or if they were further bellow. I was falling for what seems like forever, and I really didn't want to think about what would happen when I hit the bottom.

Suddenly, I felt an excruciating pain, as if I had just gotten processed by a meat grinder. But as quickly as it had started, the pain subsided, and my fall slowed down. Just as I opened my eyes, I hit the ground, crashing into the middle of a lake, and forcing my eyes to close in pain. Ouch. But it wasn't as bad as it thought. Of course, it would have been much better if I was Percy, with his water powers and all, but hitting the bottom of Tartarus several thousand feet down didn't feel that bad. But were we at the bottom? We didn't seem to be at Tartarus at all. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was my friends. We were all lying sprawled on the shallow parts of the lake, which was slightly bigger than the one at camp. The second thing I noticed was the scenery.

We looked like we were in the middle of a desert. The only differences was the absence of the sun, as well as the temperature being lower that zero. The sky was totally covered in a reddish-purplish haze. Despite the harsh winds that tore at us, the scent of ash was strong. A volcano lay in the distance, a trail of smoke floating up into the sky. The lake water was chilly and pitch black. Everyone was soaked to the bone, with the exception of Percy, who just groaned and sat up. Being the least injured, he stumbled towards the bags and picked them up, drying then instantly. He waddled into the middle of the lake, where an island stood, and dumped our bags down. As we all got up to follow him, with a lot of grunting and swearing, Percy ripped out one of those thank-you cards.

"_Thank you for coming here so willingly_," he read, "_I didn't know you liked my dungeons so much_. _~Hades_. Can you believe that world-class jerk?"

"Yes," I muttered, "I can."

"Who can't?" Thalia spat.

Katrina just swore "γαμώ"; a single, ugly, venomous word that meant "fuck".

We all reached the island and checked our bags, making sure Hades hadn't helped himself to a few of our supplies. Thankfully, he didn't, because just seconds later, a few dark shapes were swimming towards us.

They circled our little island, their fins breaking the surface. _Sharks_. One shape was bigger than the rest. It rose out of the water and smiled at us, showing every single one of those very large, sharp teeth. The only thing was, it wasn't a shark, at least not fully, unlike the rest of its companions.

It looked like some gruesome hybrid, half human, half shark. It had the head of a shark, the body and hands of a human, and instead of legs, he had a large fish tail, like a merman's.

"So," the thing said, "You're those demigods that were stupid enough to fall into Tartarus?"

Thalia clenched her fist in anger. "For your information, sharky, we were _thrown_ into Tartarus."

The thing shrug. "Then you were stupid enough to get thrown in."

Thalia growled. Katrina stepped forward and morphed her Xpovos into existence. "And _you_ were stupid enough to cross us, fish face. Any last words before I dice you into sashimi?"

The thing laughed. Or tried to, since it isn't easy to do that when you have a fish's snout for a face. "Do you know who I am, demigod? I don't lose so easily."

"How would we know who you are if you wouldn't tell us?" I demanded.

The thing smiled again. "I'm Akheilos. And my mum has given me the pleasure of killing you."

**[insert line break]**

For once in my life, I was dumbfounded. I was struggling to remember the myths about him, but they kept evading me. In the end, I decided to ask. "Who is your mum?"

"Lamia, of course." Akheilos answered. "Who else?"

"It's not our fault that there aren't any myths about you." Percy snapped. "So stop acting like a smart aleck."

"Ah," Akheilos said, "But there are myths. You just can't remember them. Which is why I act like a smart aleck."

"Well," Katrina snarled, "If you're so smart, you would know that it's not wise to make me wait for those myths. Just blurt them out already!" I've never seen Katrina in such a rage before. She looked hyperactive, as if she just ate a whole ton of sugar. With a start, I realised a similarity. She reminded me of Percy when he was swimming in the ocean, getting extra strength from the sea. Which just made me wonder who her godly parent was, allowing her to draw energy from Tartarus.

Akheilos smirked. "Why should I tell you?"

Thalia stepped forward. "Because I'll gut you if you don't."

"You can't." He said. "You're surrounded by my minions. Step into the water and they'll tear you to shreds." The sharks snarled as if to emphasis his point.

Thalia quickly stepped back. "Bad idea."

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. _Stupid myths just let me remember you!_ I screamed mentally. I remember something about a boy, son of Lamia, queen of Libya. I think he was beautiful, and something about being cursed. But that's about all I could remember. _Please mom,_ I thought, _cut me some slack and help me out._

"I'm only scared of two people." Akheilos continued, "They're the only ones who can kill me because they hate me enough. Of course, being gods, you still have to offer them something in return for their help. None of them are here right now, I'm afraid. So you're on your own, and going to die. And I'm going to get rewarded by my mother." With that, he unsheathed his sword and advanced, swimming silently.

Suddenly, I remembered. Maybe my mother did help me, or maybe it was just pure luck. Akheilos was a son of the queen Lamia. However, Lamia was cursed by Hera for having children with Zeus, so Akheilos was left alone. I wasn't sure what happened afterward, but I knew that Akheilos was good-looking, so good-looking that Aphrodite became jealous and turned him into a shark monster. He just said that he was only scared of two gods, and now I knew who they were: Hera and Aphrodite.

Unfortunately, Akheilos was right. None of them would help us, even if we got down on our knees and begged (which will never happen). Hera hated me and Aphrodite... well, Aphrodite had no reason to. Or did she?

I thought about what Aphrodite would want: Tragic love stories. If I offered her one, she might help. But what love stories could I offer? I looked at Percy. _No bad idea_, I thought, _no way am I going to break up with Percy in order to please her_. But Percy is going to die if I don't do something. I wondered what Percy would choose, if he ever came apon this choice (which was unlikely, as Percy doesn't have the brains to think of something like this). The answer was simple: he would do anything to save my life. So I made Aphrodite an offer, in order to save his. I looked at him again, then closed my eyes. _I am going to break his heart,_ I thought, he'll be deverstated. _Percy, I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please._

_Aphrodite,_ I thought, _please help us. We're all going to die if you don't. To make it worth your time, I'll break Percy's heart. I'll make a nice, tragic love story, with those happily-ever-after endings. If you want that, kill Akheilos for us. Please._

I waited for something to happen. Nothing did. I began to feel bitter, and hopeless. What was I thinking? Aphrodite would never help a demigod. We will have to fight Akheilos on our own. But I was so sure that she'll love my offering...Akheilos slashed with his sword, and Katrina intercepted with Xpovos. Akheilos got ready for a second swipe when he stiffen. A knife was protruding out of his chest, and a yucky green liquid was flowing out. Then he fell back down, dead, and began to dissolve into a million bit's of sand. The sharks dissolved too. I guess their life source was connected to Akheilos or something. I looked at the knife. Its hilt was pink and decorated with baby blue and white. Maybe Aphrodite liked the offering after all.

Everyone looked shocked, the reliefed. They relaxed and kept their weapons.

"Anyone knows where that knife came from?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, it saved us from a lot of fighting." Katrina said nonchalantly, which made me feel rather surprised. She sounded as if the monsters were no match for us, and that all the knife did was to spare her the trouble of fighting. Looking at her, I saw that she _did_ look as if she could take on Akheilos and his sharks. With a shiver, I realised that she was starting to remind me of Clarisse, despite being a lot slimmer. Could Ares be her father? Or was he something a lot more violent and chaotic?

"Annabeth, do you know?" Percy asked, interrupting my thoughts. I nodded my head. "Aphrodite."

Thalia frowned. "Why would she help you? You didn't offer her something, did you?"

I nodded my head slowly. I really didn't want to talk about it.

Percy groaned. "What did you offer her?"

I didn't answer. I just took a long, sad look at his face, knowing that he might hate me soon, that he might never speak to me again.

Then Katrina spoke, breaking the silence. "I...I've got something to tell you. Something that you'll want to know. Just hear me out, and try not to kill me at the end."

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**Sorry for the late update! I promise to post the next one by tomorrow. Please press the 'review' button below! Come on, it's not that hard!**

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	8. Chapter 8 Katrina

** Here's the next chapter! Sorry about the late update, but I had a five days camp. Enjoy and please R&R!**

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**Katrina**

I was feeling nervous. With everyone staring at me, my stomach was doing little flips, and I swear that I had the world's largest butterfly fluttering inside. But it was time I told them who my father was. When I was falling down Tartarus, I had quite a lot of time to think about it. I realized that they all deserve to know my parentage. And if I do betray them or do something that spoils the quest, at least they'll know the reason why. Who knows what my father would persuade me to do?

I took a deep breathe. "I...I know who my father is. I've known it for two weeks."

That statement was followed by silence, and then...

"Why didn't you tell us?" Thalia exclaimed loudly, probably alerting all sorts of monsters.

"Shh!" Annabeth hissed, "Do you want all the monsters in Tartarus to hear you? Isn't Akheilos enough trouble for one day already, or do you want to attract more? Speak quietly!"

I looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry, but I was afraid of what you all will do to me if you found out."

"Is he really that bad?" Percy asked.

I nodded.

"How bad can he be?" Thalia asked, "All the gods have bad tempers, but none of them are that terrible."

I looked at her sadly. "I never said that he was a god."

"So? Who cares if your parent is a Titan or some other immortal?" Percy said, "That's nothing to be ashamed of. I've met two daughters of Atlas, and they're nice, unlike their dad. When you're a half-blood, it doesn't matter who your parent is."

Thalia and Annabeth nodded.

"But Percy, I...I think I care about him, though he probably doesn't give a damn about me. I want to make him proud. I feel like I own him something, because his my father. Isn't that why you sided with you father in the war in the first place? Not because he's good or evil, but because he's your dad. The daughters of Atlas, I'm sure they didn't side with their father, which is why they're nice. Unfortunately, I do. What if I betray you or something?"

"I know you wouldn't." Annabeth said firmly. "If Athena asked me to kill Percy, I would just spit in her face."

"And if Poseidon asked me to do anything to any of you, I'll...I'll..."

"You'll spread rumors about him and Athena going together." Thalia suggested. "It's the best way to pay them back. They'll be horrified when the rumor spreads around Olympus."

"Or you could destroy his arcade room. He just built a new one, right?" Annabeth said.

"Even better, I'll take him on a trip on an airplane. I can take a video of all his screaming, whining and complaining, and send it to Hephaestus!"

We all laughed at that. I've heard of all the stories about Percy's refusal to go on planes. Poseidon would probably behave a lot worse.

"I don't know." I said, "Nico once told me that he loves his father, even though Hades doesn't care about him. Nico was friends with Percy, just like I'm friends with all of you, but he still tricked him into following him into the Underworld. And why? Because of his father! I don't know what I'll do! It could be something much worse."

"Talking about betraying us," Thalia growled, "why did that jackass Nico have to go and land us in Tartarus?"

"Maybe it's because of the Keys," Annabeth reasoned, "Hades just confirmed that we would need it. I bet Nico didn't know that Hades would just dump us here."

"He knows how his father is like! Of course he would dump us here!"

"My father would do worse." I muttered.

"Coming back to the point," Percy said, "Who is your father?"

"If I tell you, swear on the River Styx that you wouldn't just blast me to dust."

All three of them swore.

"Fine." I took a deep breathe. "My father is Kronos."

Now I was waiting to see who's outburst would come first.

**[Insert line break]**

Surprisingly (not!), it was Thalia. "WHAT!? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?"

"HOW COULD YOU?" That was from Annabeth.

"GREAT, NOW WE'RE IN A LOT OF TROUBLE." I was starting to doubt that they would go by their oath and spare me.

"WE WERE IN TROUBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE, KELP HEAD!"

"THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT THALIA!" Annabeth yelled.

That was when a growled resonated around us. "Let's go," Percy suggested, "And argue somewhere else. All your shouting attracted some monsters."

"Oh, so it's _my_ shouting, is it? Not _yours_?" Thalia snapped.

"Unless you want to get eaten by some monster, I suggest we run now, and talk later." I interrupted before a full-scale row commenced.

"Let's go!" Annabeth grabbed one of the packs and splashed into the lake, trying desperately—and failing—to swim. Thalia, Percy and I followed her example and Percy ferried us across the lake. We were all soaked to the bone (except Percy) but our main worry was getting away from whatever that made the noise. We ran and ran until the lake was far from sight, then settled in a cave to rest.

"What was that?" Thalia said.

"I don't want to find out." Annabeth answered.

"We've been running for hours, my legs are sore." Percy complained.

"Actually," I said, "We've been running for thirteen minutes and seventy-eight seconds, jogging for nineteen minutes and twenty-three seconds, and walking for seven minutes thirty-nine seconds until we found this cave. That's hardly 'running for hours'."

"How do you know that?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Maybe it's because of my dad."

"It's hard to believe that you're his daughter, you know." Percy said.

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, can you imagine the all-powerful and cruel titan lord of time getting moony-eyed over some mere mortal?"

"She's not a mere mortal; she's a demigod, daughter of Mnemosyne." Annabeth pointed out.

"I can't imagine Kronos getting moony-eyed over anyone. Just the thought makes me want to barf." Thalia said.

"Maybe Kronos wanted a half-blood child to serve him." Annabeth suggested. "That's probably why Kronos chose a demigod instead of a mortal: It would make Katrina a lot stronger to have a half-blood as a mother.

"And her mother is actually a demi-titan **(A/N Is there even such a word?)**. Mnemosyne was a child of Gaea and Ouranos. But during the Titanomachy, Mnemosyne sided with the gods, so she was allowed to become a minor goddess. But technically, she is still a titaness."

"So you're saying that I'm a three-quarter titan." I said. Annabeth nodded. "Great. More reason for the gods to distrust me."

"The gods bear no grudge to Mnemosyne; it's just that your father isn't exactly on good terms with the Olympians." Percy said.

"So, would you betray us if you got a chance?" Thalia asked. I shrugged. I really didn't know the answer to that.

"Well, since I'm stuck here in Tartarus with all of you. You all have to bear with me, even if I do betray you."

"We wouldn't have to," Thalia said, "We'll slice you to pieces."

"Thanks for the warning."

"No prob."

Suddenly Annabeth exclaimed "So that's why you looked so energetic when facing Akheilos! In a sense, Tartarus is your home tuft, so you're able to draw energy from it, like Percy in water." Now that Annabeth mentioned it, I did fell energetic, like I just ate too much sugar. Maybe being stuck in Tartarus wasn't such a bad thing for me.

"If Percy is able to feel and sense water," Annabeth continued, "Do you think you can feel and sense Tartarus? You might be able to get us out of here!"

"We don't even know if there are any other entrances out of here." I said.

"By the way Katrina," Percy said, "On a totally unrelated topic, what time is it in Camp Half-Blood?"

"Around twelve o'clock at night. Or, if you want me to be specific, exactly four minutes and fifty-two seconds after twelve." I replied immediately.

"Good, because I wanna go to sleep."

"Percy," Thalia chided, "We're discussing the way out of Tartarus and you want to sleep?"

"Yep" Percy popped the 'p'.

"Boys." Thalia sighed and shook her head.

"He has a point." Annabeth defended Percy. "I'm just as tired as he is after running away from that 'who-knows-what' monster. We can discuss more tomorrow, including someone's parents." She said, looking directly at me. Great, they're going to question me about father tomorrow. I was starting to think that telling them about Kronos wasn't such a good idea after all.

**[Insert line break]**

That night, I dreamed about my dad. But this time, I wasn't at the entrance to Tartarus; I was in it, though I shouldn't have been surprised at that. I was in the same cave as when I slept. The only difference was that Percy, Annabeth and Thalia wasn't present. Oh, and the fact that Kronos was there too.

He had taken a physical appearance, a guy in his mid-twenties. He had dark hair, but not black, and his skin was fair. His eyes were gold, just like how Percy described him when he had possessed Luke. Wearing a T-shirt and jeans, he looked like any other ordinary guy, except for the fact that he was swinging a three-foot long scythe, and that he was glowing in a harsh, gold light.

"Hello, daughter. How nice of you to end up here with me, in prison. Courtesy of the gods, they are forever merciful." Kronos's voice dripped with sarcasm, which surprised me. I didn't know that he understood the meaning of that, let alone use it.

"Now, I believe that we have important things to talk about," Kronos continued. "The gods sent five half-bloods on a quest to save their sorry hide; _my daughter_, no less. You think that they would have the brains to choose someone else.

"And, just after you all leave camp, they lock you in Tartarus, which is completely stupid. Who sends a group to do something, then locks them before they can get it done?

"Now, I'm going to explain your quest in detail, which the gods failed to do so, typical of them. The one gathering demigods and monsters is indeed Lamia, who sent Akheilos with the intent to stop you. Lamia was once queen of Libya, and has a deep grudge for the gods. I believe that she is going to stomp Mount Olympus. Akheilos failed, so naturally Lamia would send more monsters to complete the task. Now, I can't have you die before you can get me out of this forsaken place, so I'll get you and your quest mates out of here."

"Umm, dad… …" It felt weird to call Kronos 'dad', especially when he looked only twelve years older. "If I ever manage to free you from Tartarus, would you join Lamia?"

"Never. Serving a monster is below me, even more so since the monster used to be a mere mortal. I don't care if she's a child of Hecate. No, If it comes to war, I'll stay neutral. You can side with the Olympians if you like, I don't care, just remember that you serve me, not them."

"Yes father." I said.

"Good," Kronos rasped, "Now I'll have to get you out of here. Prepare for a surprise visit."

Then the world seemed to spin, and I woke up to Annabeth shaking me, hard. Her eyes were anxious, and she was scowling.

"We have a visitor, and it is All. Your. Fault."

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**Please don't kill me for this insanely short chapter with absolutely no action whatsoever! And I know that I took forever to write this, but as I mentioned earlier, I had camp. Most authors would post an AN, but I find those annoying to read when there isn't any chapters to go with it. ANs at the beginning or ending of a story or chapter are fine, so long as they're not too long. But when they're alone, with no story attach, it becomes irritating. I swear by the River Styx never to post an AN in the middle of the story! Only ANs at the bottom of the chapter, like this one, or at the beginning/ending of the story. Please click the review button, it's not that hard.**


	9. Chapter 9 Nico

** Here's the next chapter! Sorry about the late update, but I had to write a mystery story at least 20,000 words long. I know, that's a really bad excuse. Sorry for the chapter being so short. Enjoy and please R&R!**

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**Nico**

Oh, confound it all. Why did I have to jinx myself? It's a sure-fire way to get monsters. Just when I started to relax, a huge, coiling shape rose out of the water, hissing at me. A sea serpent, of all things. You normally need at least three demigods to fight them, and I, unfortunately, am only one. It snarled, and then lunged at me, and I managed to dodge. Unfortunately, the serpent still took out a huge chunk of my boat. It was rapidly sinking, and I did not have the time or the means to start bailing. The sea serpent lashed down once more, and I unsheathe my sword and stabbed it right into its eye. It came out with a sickening _pop_ and landed right next to my feet, which were soaked to the bone. Eww. The monster wailed and dived back into the ocean. Thankfully for me, sea serpents are cowardly: they flee after being severely injured. Maybe it's because they, like Merfolk, only have one life. They do not return to Tartarus when killed.

But it seems like this serpent was particularly angry, and itching for vengeance, because with one flick of its tail It threw me, boat and all, a good feet up into the air, letting me land gracefully on the isles of Nyx (a.k.a smashing your face on the ground and have the boat land on top of you). After much groaning and cursing by me, I manage to untangle myself from the wreckage of the boat and stand up. The isle looked like any other resort island, with palm trees, sandy beaches, a good amount of sunshine etc. But it was small. I mean really, really small. I could see the other side of the island without having to climb on anything. Then I remembered my father's words: you will only be able to enter at midnight. I looked at the watch on my hand. Midnight was in nine hours, enough time to continue what the sea serpent had interrupted—relaxing. Smiling, I made my way to a cave, put down my things, and settle in there for some rest.

**[Insert line break]**

Before I knew it, I fell asleep. Thankfully, I hadn't miss midnight yet, or I would have to wait for another 24 hours. True, that does means that I would have more time to relax, but my friends were stuck in Tartarus and I can't dilly-dally. Taking of my clothes, I dived into the water and took a swim. The waters ruled by Nyx were a lot friendlier than the waters ruled by my temperamental uncle.

Suddenly, there was a change in the air. A heavy mist covered the center of the island, and when it cleared, the island was a lot bigger. In place of the mist was a huge forest glowing in the moonlight. It looked a lot like my stepmom's garden, except that this one was a lot more alive. (A/N the link of a picture of the forest is at the authors note at the bottom of the chapter)

I walked into the forest. I had brought my flashlight with me, along with a little bit of the nectar and ambrosia from my bag, but the moonlight illuminated the woods, making it quite visible. The wind was strong, but the cold didn't bother me. It was way colder in the Underworld. The dried leaves under my feet crackled as I walked deeper and deeper. I wondered what object I was supposed to retrieve from this island. A key of some sort? Damn Nyx for having to make things so complicated. Instead of having one island with the object my father wants and having five other islands with the keys to that island, why can't she just have one island with a welcome sign and a hotel? I would be able to get whatever my father wants much faster, and my friends would be able to get out of Tartarus a lot faster too. But no, Nyx had to create trouble for me.

The deeper I ventured into the forest, the more trees and undergrowth grew. Soon it looked like a meadow where the Demeter cabin had gone on a rampage back at camp (long story). Let's just say that it was because of the Easter Bunny trick. Soon, I had to use my sword to cut away the brambles and vines.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I entered a meadow. Who knew that an island can expand by a few miles in less than a second? In the center of the clearing was a huge spire of obsidian. At the top of the spire was a drakon. No, I am not talking about a dragon; I'm talking about a drakon. D-R-A-K-O-N. They're like, several millennia older than dragons, and a whole lot more fearsome. They can paralyze you with one look (and unfortunately, I speak from experience).

The drakon was pure black, with a neck as long as it's body and a tail at least twice as long. Its eyes were glowing blue, and wisp of smoke was trailing out of his nose. The ground surrounding it was splattered by acid-eaten rocks. Dead cow carcasses littered the ground, stinking of decay. The drakon was obviously an obstacle. I contemplated using the carcasses to attack it, but I couldn't see how some undead cows could attack and win against a drakon, especially one with stupid acid breathe. I sighed and raised my sword. This was going to be a tough battle.

I started with a simple feint, lunging for its head and then switching direction mid-swing, stabbing it in the belly. But it seemed that all the drakon's defenses weren't enough for it—it had to have armored scales as well. The Stygian iron simply glanced of its skin, not even leaving a mark. The drakon roared, but more with fury than with pain. It retaliated, spitting acid at my face as I quickly jumped out of the way. Snarling, it slashed its claws at me, missing by a few millimeters and digging deep gouges into the soil. I slashed upwards, taking of one of its claws. Dark blood flowed out of the wound, and the drakon howled in pain. And that was when everything started going downhill.

The drakon screeched and sprang towards me, slashing mercilessly. I tried to defend myself as best as I could, but the drakon was too strong. Even Percy couldn't beat a drakon by himself, so how could I? I threw my blade upwards, aiming for his mouth. Like the Nemean lion, his mouth was vulnerable to sword wounds. That was my big mistake. The drakon snapped his mouth shut, grabbing my sword with his teeth, and flung it deep into the forest, way out of my reach. Great, I was un-armed in front of an acid-spitting drakon. Just my luck. Tyche really favors me, huh?

The drakon growled in triumph. I was beaten, and it knew it too. It snapped at me, and I scrambled out of the way, but there was no way to defend myself properly. It was just playing with me. I did the logical thing: I ran. I was going to get of this island, get my boat and sail away. Who cares about the treasure that Nyx had? Who cares that my father wants it? He can go fetch it himself. But then… …what happens to my friends? Dad only promised to free them if I completed my mission. I couldn't abandon it. I had to get whatever my father wants, even if I die in the attempt.

Just then, I tripped and landed sprawled on the grass. The drakon had given chase and was gaining rapidly. I looked at the object that I tripped on: It was the drakon's claw, the one I cut off. Looking at the claw, I remembered something that _Brekendorf_told me, before he died: No matter how well you forge a shield; the sword, if made of the same metal, will always be stronger. Does this work the same way, with a claw instead of a sword and an armored hide instead of a shield? Well, time to find out.

The drakon could really run fast. Before I knew it, it had reached me, rearing up for a death blow. Bracing myself, I threw the claw into the air, and it sailed right into the drakon's belly. The drakon screeched in agony and collapsed on the ground. It tried to claw its way towards me, but it was too late. It dissolved into yellow sand, leaving one of its glowing blue eyes behind—a spoil of war. When I picked it up, it morphed into a key. Looks like I'd gotten what I came for. Smiling in victory, I pocketed it. And that was when I noticed the fog.

It was rolling in heavily, obscuring my vision. It completely surrounded the island till I was standing in a huge, damp, grey mass. When it cleared, I was back inside the cave where I had slept earlier. My bag was still in there, along with my provisions. The only difference was the island.

I was no longer next to a forest. Instead, the isle was barren, with jagged rocks lying all over the place. This time, the moon was covered by black clouds, and I had to on my torchlight to be able to see anything at all. I looked at my watch—it was 1 o'clock. I vaguely remembered Hades telling me that each island was only accessible at certain times, the second one at 1 a.m. Somehow, I had reached the second island.

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**Finally, done! I know it's rather short, and I really tried to make it longer, but I kinda got writer's block. Anyway, should I do a Percy POV next, or continue and do another one on Nico?**


	10. Chapter 10 Nico

**I'm going to do another Nico POV chapter since I want your opinion on the plot for the chapters based in Tartarus. The options are these:**

**The 'visitor' fights them in order for them to prove themselves, and when they do, he gets them out of Tartarus.**

**The 'visitor' leads them to the exit of Tartarus, which is guarded by skeletons, but leaves them to fight of the skeletons themselves, and they do.**

**For other options, PM me or write it in a review.**

**And yes, the 'visitor' is on their side. He wouldn't be betraying them. Or if he does, it will only be something minor, like refusing to help them when facing danger and monsters.**

**And for those of you who read the Warrior Cats series, PLEASE read ****my new fanfic **_**Of Half-Bloods and Half-Clans, Of Campers and Warriors**_**. It's a crossover between Warriors and PJO****, and also a bit of Hunger Games****. I simply love ****all three**** series, and was really, REALLY upset when I saw that most of th****ose crossover**** fanfics ****between Warriors and PJO ****have been discontinued. But I'll ****still ****put first priority**** on this story.**

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**Nico**

It was much easier to walk on this island than the previous one. In the forest, I had to worry about the undergrowth, but here, all I had to worry about is getting sand in my shoes.

Unfortunately, being a son of Hades does not allow you to see in the dark, and now I have to resort to my flashlight, though it only inconvenienced me a little. As I walked forward, I kept glancing at the dark clouds. With my luck, there would be a downpour.

This island was a lot smaller than the first one. Suddenly, I thought I saw a shadow as something ran past. But when I blinked my eyes, it was gone. I was probably imagining it. After a short trek, I had reached the center of the island. Instead of a spire of obsidian, there was a flat piece of stone. There was some writing engraved on it, as well as three different colored pearls, one red, one blue and one green, at the bottom. The writing read:

_Hello. My name is Nyx, the goddess of the night. So you've past the first test, and this is the second. The first test was meant to test strength; this one is to test intelligence. But in order to be intelligent, you need knowledge, so I shall provide you with it._

_The treasure on the last island belongs to my friend Eris. It is the apple of discord. At first, Eris wanted to give it to the most beautiful, but now she only wants the best to have it. But she is too busy helping Hermes at the customer service, so she gave it to me to pass it on. Hence this islands and tests._

_There are some minor gods and goddesses here, helping Eris as well. You will have to go through a few of them in order for the apple to be yours. And now for your second test. Your goal is to capture the Teumessian fox, and the three pearls at the bottom of the rock will help you. Smashing a pearl will summon that respective creature. The red one summons Chimera, the green one summons Orthrus, and the blue one summons Laelaps. But choose wisely, because the moment one pearl is smashed, the rest will vanish. Try to get to the next island. And if you survive them all, as well as the final challenge, then you really deserve the apple. Good luck—Nyx._

Okay. So apparently I have to catch some fox, and that I have three pearls to help me. I think that the Teumessian fox was a fox that was destined never to be caught (thanks to Annabeth. She talked my ear off). Great, so now Nyx wants me to catch something uncatchable? How in Hades am I supposed to do that? I plucked each pearl from the bottom of the stone. They didn't look like anything that could catch the Teumessian fox. Nyx wrote that each would summon a creature. But which one? Now was one of the times when I wished that Annabeth was right beside me.

The red one would summon the Chimera. But was the lion-headed, snake-tailed, fire-breathing, acid-biting goat the right choice? Sure, hardly any heroes can kill it, and its acid and fire could cook a fox in seconds, but the Chimera just doesn't sound like a hunting wolf that could catch foxes.

The green one was supposed to summon Orthrus. He was a two-headed dog, brother to Cerberus. And Cerberus was good at chasing stuff. I personally knew him, and none of my red rubber balls have ever survived. Orthrus that two heads; that's not as good as three, but enough in order to catch a fox. Orthrus seemed like the right answer, but for some reason my instincts (yes, demigods have instincts, but that doesn't mean we're animals!) told me that it wasn't.

And last was the blue pearl. It would summon a creature called Laelaps, whatever it is. It sounds like a brand of dog food, but how can food help? I can try to lure it with food, but then what? If only Annabeth was here. But no, she's stuck in Tartarus, courtesy of my father. Which is the bloody reason why I'm here in the first place! Or one of the bloody reasons. The other is because I need the Keys of Hades. But maybe I didn't have to have my father's consent to get them. I could steal them from him, or maybe ask Persephone. And my friends in Tartarus, I could try to break them out. There is a way; it's via the Doors of Death. No one knows about them except for Hades and me, not even the other gods. I don't have to go on this mission for my father. I could get my friends out and get the Keys without my father's help.

I sighed. I was being a coward. I can think about running away _after_ I failed. After, and only after, I failed. I looked at the pearls again. Orthrus seemed like the most likely, and I was just about to smash the green pearl when someone—something—leaped at me. I manage to dodge in time, but I accidentally clench my fist, cracking one of the pearls. When I opened my palm, I realized that I had cracked the blue one. Great, now I can summon dog food.

But apparently that wasn't what Laelaps stood for. For instead of a meat bone or something similar, an actual dog materialized in front of me. It was pure white, and about the size of a horse. Not as big as a hellhound, but similar. One of its eyes was yellow, the other blood red. It was growling at the Teumessian fox that had recently tried to make meat patties out of me.

The fox's fur was a dark shade of red, with only a speck of white at the tip of its tail. Its claws were black as well as its teeth, and its eyes were hazel, just like any ordinary fox. It was the same size as Laelaps, and about as muscular, but it had a look of cunning in its eyes that Laelaps lacked. The Teumessian fox feinted to one side, and then darted at me, but Laelaps snapped at it before it got at my neck. The fox growled in frustration, then it fled, running faster than any kid of Hermes, and trust me, they can run fast. But Laelaps gave chase and with a slash of its paw, it ripped out one of the fox's claws. Then both of them ran away, one chasing the other, playing a deadly game of tag.

I picked up the claw and it morphed into a key, like my first one. I kept it and wondered why Laelaps was the only one who could catch the Teumessian fox. I was going to have to ask Annabeth about him, if—no, _when_—I get them out.

I looked at my watch. The time was nearly two o'clock. Sure enough, a heavy fog descended over the island. When it cleared, I couldn't believe my eyes—in front of me was a fortress.

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**I know I'm being mean, not writing a Percy POV, but if I wanted the story to flow, I have to finish all five islands first. But since that's going to be a long wait, I want to ask if you'll will mind if I skip the third and fourth islands, giving only a brief summary about what happened then, and skip directly to the fifth island. Then I can have a Percy POV, one more Nico's, and then I will be done with this whole apple of discord business.**

**And if any of you'll are confused about Laelaps, ****he is fated to catch all his prey, kinda like the opposite of the Teumessian fox. Please review and don't kill me for not uploading a Percy POV chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11 Nico

**I would like to thank everyone who reviewed this story, especially ****ChaserMoonstone**** for the tremendously long review and positive response. Thanks for the support! And I don't mind your**** rant; it doesn't annoy me at all.**

**And for every one of the reviewers out there who want cookies, here you go! Five cookies (yes, they are virtual cookies. Don't complain). (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

**Disclaimer (yes, I'm wr****iting **_**yet**_** another one because I'm bored): I am, unfortunately, not the amazing Rick Riordan because 1) I am a girl, 2) I am not an adult and 3) I live in Asia. So I can't possibly own PJO, yes?**

**And as stated in the A/N of the previous chapter, I am ****skipping the next two islands, only summarizing what had happened there. So forgive me if the parts about them are short. (or at least, I'm trying to shorten them. The key word being 'trying'. Because in my opinion, shortening isn't making it from 2,000+ w****ords to 1,000+. And that is **_**per island**_**. Well, on the bright side, it's making the chapters longer!)**

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**Nico**

The medieval fortress stood out among the trees, sand and rocks surrounding the outer areas of the island. The walls, naturally, were made of celestial bronze, which glowed in the night. There was a banner of a boar and spear, and another one of a star. The star probably stood for Nyx, but what in Hades was a banner of a boar and a spear doing here? I'm pretty sure that they were Ares's symbols.

So I walked into the fortress. The inside was amazing, with walls that shined gold, and a lush, red carpeted floor. Normally, in godly places, the inside of a building tend to be larger than the outside, but in this case the inside looked a lot smaller. Maybe because Nyx hardly needed any space for this particular challenge.

Turns out that I was right. Nyx didn't even need more than one room. In there was a chest, lined with gold and inlaid with jewels. Sitting on the chest were two gods that I'll recognize everywhere. They were the two minor gods that help my dad in the fields of punishment, Phobos and Deimos. The challenge was obvious: Get whatever is in the chest.

"Nico, I thought that you were helping your dad in the underworld?" Phobos asked.

"Yes and no. I am helping my dad, but not in the underworld. Hades wants the apple of discord, whatever it is." I replied.

"Why would Hades want the apple of discord? It's more of a goddess thing." Phobos said.

"How would I know? He just wants me to get it. Now would you please kindly get out of my way?" I said hopefully, though I knew that that would never happen.

Phobos smiled. "No." Knew it.

I sighed. "What do I have to do to get it? Beat you? I heard from Percy that you're horrible at combat."

Phobos snarled. "That Jackson is a wimp. He only says that because he is jealous of our fighting skills." I rolled my eyes at that. Puh-leese. Percy, _jealous_? That's like saying that Annabeth is stupid or Clarisse is a chicken. Completely out.

"But you won't have to fight us." Phobos continued. "This is meant to be a test of courage and bravery. We'll be using our powers on you. If you can resists them, then you can get the key inside the chest. But if you fall to the ground crying, then we win."

"Well," I said, "If your powers are as weak as your fighting skills, then this would be a piece of cake."

Phobos sneered. "We'll see about that. Deimos, you first."

Deimos smiled and cracked his knuckles. Suddenly, he wasn't Deimos anymore. He was my…my…_father_? Why in Tartarus is he here?

"What are you waiting for, son? Are you to incompetent to even get an apple?" Hades snapped. I winced. My father was always fierce, but now he seemed more so.

"N…No, father." I stammered.

"Then what are you doing, standing there? Go and get it! I wish your sister Bianca was still alive. She would have done a much better job!" Dad roared.

I backed off. Why was father so upset? He was the one who asked me to go to each of the islands and do the challenges. And this was one of the challenges to get the apple… …oh. I looked at Hades. What was Deimos god of? Terror, right. And I _was_ a little scared of my dad, since he has just as bad a temper as me. Wait no, not just as bad, it's _worse_.

I took a deep breath. If I accused him for being Deimos, and it turns out that he really is Hades, then I am sooo dead. My father hates being compared to any minor god or goddess. "Deimos, you can stop playing your little tricks and games. I won't be fooled by them."

My dad frowned, and then sighed. His image shimmered and dissolved till he was back to being Deimos again. "Fine, you win." He grumbled. Phobos got up and smiled. "And now it's my turn. You have to stare right into my eyes for my powers to work, though." I obliged, and his eyes glowed red. And then I wasn't in the castle anymore.

I was standing in someplace that looked suspiciously like a junkyard. But this junk piled to a few hundred feet tall. If this was a rubbish dump, it seriously needed clearing.

Then five people walking into view, and I recognized them as Grover, Percy, Thalia, Zoe and my dead sister, Bianca. But if she was dead, why the hell is she her? Is this her shade?

They started picking their way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and I noticed that they all kept to the left of the bear constellation thingy, probably to prevent themselves from getting lost. I couldn't blame them. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

The five of them were busy checking out all the things there, and some of them were really cool. There was an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre that Percy picked up. Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings.

Finally, I could see the end of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of the them, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between them and the road… "What is that?" Bianca gasped. Ahead of them was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together. I examined them. They reminded me of something, though I didn't know what.

Bianca frowned, and I heard her say "They look like—"

"Toes," Grover said. Exactly, Toes! That's what they reminded me of. But what were toes doing here?

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe and Thalia exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," Thalia said. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."

Ping.

Thalia hefted her spear and Zoe drew her bow, and I spun around sharply, looking for the cause of the noise, but then I realized it was only Grover. He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?" I snorted. What a bad excuse. Even Percy could come up with a better one.

Talking about Percy, Thalia looked at him. "Come on, around."

He didn't argue, and looked freaked out. And I was feeling exactly the same. I mean, who sculpts ten-foot-tall metal toes and sticks them in a junkyard? After several minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked. At that moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. And the five of them heard it too, for they whirled around in surprise.

Behind them, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and I realized why they looked like toes. They were toes. The thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall—a skyscraper with legs and arms. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at us, and I saw that his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME. Which, in the current situation, wasn't funny at all. But the worst thing was that I recognized who that thing was, and I also knew what it would do to my sister.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Who—who's Talos?" Percy stuttered. "One of Hephaestus's creations," Thalia said. "But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model."

The metal giant didn't like the word defective, and who could blame it? He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but I didn't figure that mattered. Getting hit with that thing would be like getting hit with a battleship. I found myself praying for my friends' well-being, even though I already knew the outcome.

"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?" She stared accusingly at Percy. She must really hate males.

Percy shook his head. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief." Which I found ironic, seeing as he stole my stygian iron sword only a week ago. **(A/N and for those people who are wondering how Nico has his sword back after the drakon threw it into the forest, the sword returns to Nico after a while, in case he loses it, kind of like Riptide.)**

Bianca didn't say anything, but I could swear she looked guilty. The statue of Hades. She had stolen it for me, for my stupid Mythomagic game. I looked down, depressed. Dealing with Bianca's death had been hard, but seeing it in front of my eyes was even worse. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see my sister's death. But no matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut, I couldn't stop the terrifying images, couldn't stop seeing her. And that's when I remembered my encounter with Phobos, god of phobia. I would never be able to stop the scenes of her death if I didn't stand up to him. I opened my eyes.

I calmed myself down and stared straight ahead. The more I stared, the more the junkyard seemed to flicker, and soon I could see the fortress once more. I saw Phobos smiling at me as he made me experience what I feared most, and concentrated on him, willing the shadows in the fortress to gather and strangle him. The shadows obeyed and he gasped in surprise as they closed around his throat. And as Phobos fell to the ground, struggling for breath while his brother tried his best to help him, the pile of junk vanished, as well as the image of Bianca dying.

"Good job." Phobos gasped, breathing deeply, after I released him. "You didn't cry or do anything wimpy. And that was good control over the shadows, though you didn't need to strangle me so hard. My head nearly fell off, and I value me face, okay?"

He staggered over to the chest, opened it and took out a key. "Here, this is yours. Try to make it to the apple. Oh, and you better get moving. It's three p.m. now."

Sure enough, a thick fog covered the castle, and when it cleared, I saw what looked like a maze, with a young lady standing right in front of the entrance, like a guide.

**[whew, that was extremely long. After this line break, the next island comes!]**

"Hello," the lady greeted me as I walked forward. "I am Ariadne, goddess of the labyrinth." Great. I remembered the labyrinth, and if this maze was another one, I was sooo going to die.

"No, it isn't another one," Ariadne said, reading my thoughts. "It is merely a large and confusing maze, with monsters lurking everywhere inside it. It doesn't confuse your mind at all, that's the job of Apate."

Not getting what she said, I said something intelligent like "huh?"

"Apate," Ariadne explained, "on the last island. She's your finale challenge, and then you have to contest Python for the apple."

"Python? Who in Hades is he?"

Ariadne quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Oopsie, not meant to say that!"

"Just tell me!" I could vaguely remember Python from one of the myths that Annabeth told me. Something about an Oracle?

"I can't divulge that info!" Ariadne told me, "but I can tell you about this challenge. It's supposed to test out your survival skills, instinct and stamina. You will have to get out of the maze alive before I give you the key." She took a deep, dark blue key and waved it in front of my face. "Monsters will try to stop you, of course. You will have to defeat them on your way out. Any questions?"

"One." I said. "Aren't you Dionysus's wife? What are you doing here?"

"Yes, I am his wife." She answered. "And I'm here helping Nyx because I want to pass the time until he comes back from his punishment by Zeus. But come one, get in the maze now." Then she got behind me and pushed me into the maze. The moment I was inside, the entrance disappeared. Now I was stuck in her for eternity, unless I find my way out.

The first ten minutes of walking were relatively safe, except for the occasional bump against dead ends or going around in circles. However, it seemed that my luck couldn't last. For just then, I met the minotaur.

When I first came to camp, I would have been horror-struck that I had to meet such a monster, let alone fight him. The minotaur was legendary, only to be fought by the best of fighters. At least, that was what I believed before Percy whipped his butt. Now, I wasn't even daunted. In fact, I was even anticipating the fight. When the minotaur is dead, most monsters would leave me alone for fear of being killed. That would save me a whole lot of time.

Old beef-head swung his axe down, aiming for my head, but I easily darted out of the way. The omega-shaped blades sank into the ground, and the minotaur pulled it out and charged at me again. This time, I stepped-sided and as beefy plowed right pass me, I stabbed my sword into its chest. It turned around and tried to charge me, but dissolved into sand before he could walk three meters. I walked forward and picked up my sword, then continued into the maze. **(A/N I'm going to do a bit of skipping here)**

The rest of the journey was easy. I met a hydra, but simply burned it into ashes with hellfire. I also met a cyclops, but I stabbed it in the eye after a legion of skeletons distracted him. Hardly any other monster dared challenge me after my little stunt with the minotaur, so in no time at all, I was out of the maze.

Ariadne was waiting for me at the end. She smiled and threw me the key, which I caught and pocketed. "Good job. I didn't expect you to make it, especially when you faced that Hydra. But even though you are victorious, I suggest you eat some ambrosia before the next island. Summoning hellfire and skeletons can be rather taxing." I found that she was right, and that I _was_ tired, so I ate some godly food like she suggested.

"The next challenge will test your willpower and sanity." Ariadne warned. "The goddess Apate will throw all the lies she can create at you, and you must stand up to them. It will be one of your hardest challenges ever, for she can twist your mind even more thoroughly than the Labyrinth."

"I'll keep that in mind." I said to her. "I have no intention of turning into a mad, drooling hunk of meat."

"I hope you succeed then, and get the apple." Just as the words left her mouth, the usual fog obscured my sight, just as four o'clock struck.

**[I am an annoying, ****little, bastardy line break **** | BTW, the next island's a little short as I have gotten writers block after writing the previous two]**

The finale island was, by the loosest definition, tiny. It only had space for a display case with the last key inside a glass casing, and for a pale, dark haired lady to stand beside it. The pale lady smiled when she noticed me, but unlike Ariadne, her smile was a lot colder. "Hello, half-blood. My name is Apate, goddess of lies, trickery, illusions and deceit. I am your host for the last challenge.

"Your goal is simple: retrieve the key." The goddess snapped her fingers and the glass casing vanished. "I will not try to stop you physically, nor will I burn you to ashes. Instead, I will use illusions against you. As Ariadne has undoubtedly warned you, this is a test of willpower. And the challenge starts now." She snapped her fingers and vanished, leaving me alone with the key.

I reached forward to grab the key, but suddenly it changed into a snarling rattlesnake, its copper scales gleaming. It lashed at me, and I barely managed to avoid getting bitten, jumping back just in time. As if things could not get any worse, the island expanded, and armies of shades advanced, armies that I could neither sense nor control. The key has gone, and an army appeared. How in Tartarus was I supposed to finish this challenge?

I engaged the legion of shades. Normally, some kind of internal radar in me will tingle like crazy whenever I'm near a ghost, but this time I couldn't feel anything at all. I slashed the first one apart, but it reformed the moment I killed it. I didn't think much of it as I demolish ghost after ghost, but as they kept coming back, I began to suspect that they were not shades at all.

They certainly looked like shades and acted like shades, but there were a few things off. Firstly, every ghost killed will immediately go to the underworld, but these reformed like monsters. Secondly, I should be able to sense them and lastly, my stygian iron sword would have absorbed their essence and become stronger, but it didn't.

So there was only one thing those things could be—illusions. And it did make sense, Apate being the goddess of deceit and all. Just as I came to that conclusion, holes appeared out of the ground, and several mega-size pit scorpions crawled out. Great, just great. Now I have more things to deal with.

The scorpions attacked me, along with the shades, while the snake (a.k.a key) simply curled up and hissed. I managed to hold the illusions at bay, but I knew that I couldn't continue fighting for long. So I did something so reckless and ADHD that even Percy would feel jealous of—I leapt for the snake.

The pit scorpions intercepted me, and one of them bit down hard on my leg. The pain was absolutely blinding, so searing hot that I crumpled to the ground in an undignified heap, dropping my sword. Percy had once told me that if you are bitten by a pit scorpion, you have approximately 60 seconds to live. I looked at my thigh: it had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. Eww. My ears pounded. My vision went foggy. I reached forward and grabbed my sword, but the effort made me cry out in pain. The shades and scorpions merely looked at me. They didn't need to fight me now; they could just watch me die. My vision was getting dark. I could barely breathe. But that's where the illusions were wrong. I wasn't going to die. Not if I could help it.

My legs felt like lead. My forehead was burning. For illusions, the poison could really hurt. But I knew what I had to do now. I had to ignore all the illusions Apate sent at me. The shades and scorpions aren't there; the rattlesnake is still a key. I just had to grab it. But I was slipping into unconsciousness. Could I make it? Ignoring the wrenching pain, I got up and caught hold of the snake, falling down immediately as my legs buckled under the weight of my body. I remember the sense of victory that I felt, and the snake biting into my arm.

Then everything went black.

**[I actually wanted to end it here, but I decided not to be so mean]**

I woke up to Apate staring at me, and a key grasped in my hand. The island was back to its tiny size. Apate smile was genuine now, not forced nor cold. "Good job, DiAngelo, for passing my test. Now all you have to do is challenge Python for the apple."

"Python? Who is he? And how come I'm still alive?"

"Isn't it obvious? The poison was an illusion! You couldn't possibly die from it."

"But it felt so real." I mumbled.

"Of course it felt real." Apate snapped. "I'm not the goddess of illusions for nothing, you know. It wouldn't be a good illusion if it felt fake, no?"

I stumbled to my feet. "What do I have to do now to get the apple? And what do you mean by 'challenge Python'?"

Apate waved my question away. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. But I'll give you a clue: use his weakness against him. He's still…paranoid about a past encounter. And it's about time I sent you to your finale task. Best of luck in defeating Python."

And before I could ask anything else, a flash of blue light flared from her hand and hit me square in the chest. I collapsed to the ground, and that was when I blacked out.

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**THAT WAS MY LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! 4,000+ words!**** BTW, I'm going on a vacation for the next 10 days, and wouldn't be able to update. But I promise to update immediately when I come back! Sorry for having to make you wait for so long. Also, I'm going to redo all of the current chapters after the trip. ****I hope you enjoyed this chappie!**** Please R&R!**


	12. Chapter 12 Percy

** I'm finally back from vacation! And this is a Percy chapter, not Nico. Thanks to everyone who patiently waited for this chapter! And I know that Annabeth is supposed to break up with Percy, but it wouldn't come up in this chapter. She's a little too worried about getting out of Tartarus to worry about her promise. But she will act differently later.**

** Disclaimer: I will never, ever own such a wonderful and brilliant book series such as PJO. Not in my whole life. Which pretty much sucks. (SoN reference!)**

* * *

**Percy**

I was rudely awakened from my sleep by Annabeth's furious stomping, cursing and swearing, which was rather unlike her. She had marched right up to Katrina—and I still can't believe that she's a daughter of Kronos; she doesn't act like him at all—and started shaking her roughly. "We have a visitor, and it is All. Your. Fault." I heard her hiss.

Katrina pushed Annabeth away and sat up drowsily, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She rubbed her face with a yawn. "Why did you have to wake me up like that? Do you know what time it is? It's five in the morning. Who wakes up at this time? And what visitor are you talking about?"

"Come outside and see for yourself." Annabeth snapped. Okay, she's definitely in a temper. I wonder why?

"Okay, okay." Katrina muttered as Annabeth hauled her to her feet. After waking up Thalia, she stamp her way to the entrance of the cave.

When I saw him, I didn't recognize him at first. Then I remembered his image from my father's war mosaic. In there, he was a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. Then, he was riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and he wielded a live serpent. This time, he had legs instead of a fish tail, and there was no chariot with him. But the bull horns and life serpent remained the same.

"Hello, Oceanus." Annabeth growled. No wonder she was angry. An attack on the first day of our quest, a titan on the next. I shudder to think of what would happen tomorrow. An assault by Ladon? Typhon? A primordial?

"A pleasure to meet you all." He sneered, then glowered at me. I glared back at him. It was his entire fault that my father's palace got trashed. Well, at least the arcade room was rebuilt. But the guest rooms were still in ruins, as well as part of the living room. (Yes, an all-powerful god has a living room. Got a problem with that?)

"What are you doing here?" I snapped. "If you're going to kill us, then get on with it already."

"I would love to kill all of you, but Lord Kronos wishes otherwise." Oceanus growled. "He wants to get his daughter out of this dump. And that unfortunately means that all of you are getting out as well." Well, of all the titans, did Kronos have to choose him? The enemy of my father. Maybe this was Kronos's way of getting revenge at me.

"Fine, just snap your fingers and get us out of here." I grumbled, wanting to get this over with.

"Do you think it's that simple?" Oceanus snarled. "If we could do that, all of us titans would be out of here a few millennia ago. I'm afraid we have to go out the normal way that all monsters use. One is the way that you entered here from, the other is an entrance guarded by Thanatos. The one connected to the Underworld is out of question, so that leaves the latter option. So let's just go. I want to finish this quickly." And with that, he walked away at a brisk pace, with us following behind him.

**[I'm a super annoying line break! I'm a super annoying line break!]**

After walking for eight hours (according to Katrina), with only a short break in between, we entered a forest. Large leafed, hundred foot tall trees made an entrance. On the floor of the forest, there were thorns and Zeus knows what other kind of dangerous plants. Near the roof of the forest, vines and plants made a giant canopy of no color. That wasn't right. Plants were supposed to be colorful and thriving. But these plants and trees were dark and rid of any color, and not just because of the dark, reddish sky.

"Come on, we're nearly there. Just a few more hours." Oceanus said. All of us groaned. Not more walking! My feet were about to drop off. And judging by the whines of my friends, they weren't faring any better either. Of course, our journey through Tartarus could have been a lot worse, with monsters attacking us every five minutes. But Oceanus's presence warned them off. Not even monsters messed with a titan, it seems.

"Finally, I can dispose of you lot of insufferable, ungrateful demigods." He grumbled, as he picked up the pace, leaving us scrambling to keep up with him. The thick undergrowth was much harder to walk on, with us stumbling and tripping over various rocks and stones. Not to mention all the plants we had to avoid.

We eventually walked out of the forest into a vast meadow. The meadow wasn't any prettier than the forest though. The grass was gray and withered, and there were no flowers whatsoever. Demeter and Persephone would be ashamed of this place. I thought that Oceanus would lead us through it, but he merely stopped and gesture us forward.

"Aren't we continuing, Lord Oceanus?" Katrina asked. She was the only one who gave him respect, the rest of us sneered, snapped or refuse to talk to him at all. (*cough* Thalia *cough) Probably because her father and him were on the same side. I snorted. Please, who calls Oceanus 'Lord'? Not even Luke did. We don't call the Olympians 'Lord' either, except maybe Zeus.

Oceanus didn't answer. Instead, he glared at a bird high up in the sky. Wait, it wasn't a bird. As it descended, it got bigger and bigger. By the time it landed in front of us, it was a least twice the size of Mrs O'Leary, my pet hellhound (Long story). "Kampe." Oceanus said, his voice cold. "Get lost. I'm on an errant from Lord Kronos."

Kampe hissed, a guttural sound emitting from the back of her throat. I had no idea what that meant, but Oceanus snarled in anger and Katrina gave a "Hey!" of protest. Whatever she said wasn't good then. "If that is so," Oceanus threatened, "then we'll have to fight you."

_Wait,__ Fight __her?__ What? We don't even have Briareus _**(A/N That's what he's called, right?)** _this time, nor an army of campers. How can we win?_

_Di immortales._

* * *

**Okay, I know that was super short, barely exceeding 1,000 words in length, but I was having writer's block. So don't throw pitchforks, javelins and stilettos at me. It was also a very crappy ending…oh well, flame me all you want. Just sorry about everything wrong in this chapter.**

**Anyway, I'll try to post the other chapter soon!**** And hopefully ****in a much better**** quality****.**


	13. Chapter 13 Katrina

**I decided that since the previous chapter sucked like hell, I should do another update on this story instead of my other one. Also, CreCra mentioned a spelling mistake in the previous ****chapter, and I've changed it. And I know Kampe is supposed to be spelled as ****Kampê, but I can't type out that special ê.**

**For some completely weird reason, I'm starting to get fond of writing disclaimers, even though I feel horrible after writing one. Maybe it's the first sign that I'm going completely stark, raving mad. I should get Dionysus for help. So anyway, I don't own Percy Jackson. Now excuse me while I go and cry. *weeping…***

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**Katrina**

To say that I was angry would be an understatement. I was fuming, smoking mad. Of course, all I did to express myself was to say something completely idiotic like "Hey!", but it wasn't exactly a good time for me to start lecturing Kampe about loyalty, so I had to settle for that. (Wait, Kampe _is_ a her, right?)

I also felt insulted. Her words were something along the lines of "Kronos might have once been in power here, but now a force even more ancient and powerful is awakening, and I no longer follow his orders." But the speech was injected with all sorts of rude words that don't have a translation in both English and Ancient Greek. And even if there was a translation, I still wouldn't have said them. They were that vile.

The whole thing was spoken in a language a lot older than anything I have heard before. It sounded as old as my father, maybe even older. And for some reason, I managed to understand it.

Kampe breaking alliance with us was bad news. And what kind of powerful force is she talking about? But on the bright side, now both Oceanus and I were pissed. Really pissed. Having your father—or in Oceanus's case, king —insulted does that to you. And making a titan piss is a really bad idea. As demonstrated later on.

"If that is so," Oceanus threatened, "then we'll have to fight you."

"So be it." Kampe hissed. "I'll crush all of you."

"Unfortunately, as much as I would like too, I cannot interfere directly in this battle—" Oceanus said, glaring at Kampe.

"Wait, you're just going to let us fight her by ourselves?" Thalia interjected angrily, finally deciding to speak with him. "Without any help at all?"

"Of course not! Lord Kronos would have my head if he hears that I left his daughter. Not to mention this bitch needs to learn a lesson on loyalty. But I have the Ancient Laws to think about. Or have you forgotten, Grace?" Oceanus snapped. Thalia gritted her teeth at hearing her last name. "I can't interfere directly, but I can still do things to help. For example, I'm sure Jackson wants somewhere to draw water from." He snapped his fingers and the meadow erupted. Waves appeared from under the ground, filling the huge hole that Oceanus created, and soon there was a large lake right in front of us.

"And now," Oceanus decided, "we fight."

"We?" Thalia muttered. "You just said that you're not going to do anything."

**[Insert line break]**

I'll like to say that the battle was a piece of cake, and that we won easily, beating Kampe into a pulp within seconds. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I took out Xpovos in scythe mode. A six-foot long scythe wasn't going to do much against Kampe's two acid dripping scimitars, so I twisted the topaz gem. Immediately, the hilt shortened and the blade shot up, changing it into a meter long sword. Now it was lighter and much easier to swing.

I charged her, ducking under her scimitars and aiming a slash at her waist. Kampe blocked my attack and I had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. I coughed when I accidentally inhaled a breath of that air. Just being near her was like standing in an acid fog.

Percy was using the water around us to distract Kampe, Annabeth was attacking her alongside me and Thalia was firing her lightning bolts. But all of that hardly bothered Kampe at all.

Kampe hissed and sliced at us. I dodged, trying to distract her, while Annabeth went in for a strike, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. Neither of us could get close. Percy sent an enormous wave at her, while Thalia used the water as a conductor for her electricity, but Kampe merely shrugged off the attack.

My eyes burned from the acid. My lungs couldn't get enough air. I knew we couldn't stand our ground for much longer. I tried to slow time around Kampe, but the poison was interfering with my concentration.

Percy concentrated on the water and managed to fire a small ice shard at her, piecing her chest. Kampe roared, but it was roar of anger, not of pain. But at least she was distracted, leaving her chest opened to attacks.

"Now!" Annabeth yelled.

Percy shot a geyser of water at the monster while Thalia hit her with a jolt of electricity. Together Annabeth and I charged, dodged the monster's slashes, got inside her guard, and almost…almost managed to stab Kampe in the chest, but a huge bear's head lashed out from the monster's waist, and we had to stumble backward to avoid getting bitten.

Slam! The next thing I knew, Annabeth and I were on the ground. The monster had its forelegs on our chests, holding us down. Hundreds of snakes slithered right above me, hissing like laughter. Kampe raised her green-tinged swords to strike, and drops of venom flew everywhere, hissing when they hit the ground. One of them hit Oceanus in the arm, and he winced in pain when it contacted with his skin. But despite that, for some reason, he was smirking.

The whole lake rose and wrapped around Kampe, forcing her off us. The water froze till she resembled a giant ice cube. A portal to some other part of Tartarus opened below her, and she fell right inside. When she was gone, the hole closed and water filled the lake again. I scrambled to my feet and breathe in some fresh air, then splashed my face with some water, washing away the acid. The other follow suit.

"Now that that's done," Oceanus said, "let's get going. We're only a mile away. And then I can finally dispose of you brats."

**[Insert line break]**

"Oceanus, if you're restricted by the ancient laws, why did you attack Kampe?" Percy asked. He was acting a little friendlier to the titan now, since he saved all of us from that monster.

"You rather I didn't?" Oceanus sneered. "I could have just let you die, you know."

"That's not what I meant!" Percy snapped, his face flushed with anger. "I was just wondering!"

"I was sprayed by that poison. That was considered 'attacking' me, so I was allowed to retaliate and beat the shit out of that traitor. How dare she betray Lord Kronos?"

"Thank you for that, Lord Oceanus." I don't know why I added the 'Lord' there. Maybe it was because he was helping us? Or maybe I thought he ought to get some respect, after all he'd been through. He didn't do anything against the gods in the first war, yet he got his domain stolen from him and was left to rot in Tartarus.

We walked the last mile in silence. Soon, we reached the edge of the meadow, where two large, black doors stood. There were ancient greek runes carved all over the doors, and they pulsed eerily with green light.

"Oceanus, why are you here?" spoke a deep and melodious voice from the shadows. "You know just as well as I do that you are not allowed pass these doors."

"I can't, but these half-bloods can, Thanatos." Oceanus answered. "Let them through, they're not imprisoned nor being punished by the Olympian council. They just happened to…drop down here." Yeah right, we were dropped down, but not by accident.

The voice hesitated, then stepped out of the shadows. I stifled a gasp when I saw him. Thanatos was lean and muscular, with a regal face, honey gold eyes, and black hair flowing down his shoulders. His skin was the color of teakwood, and his wings glimmer in shades of blue, black, and purple. He was beautiful—timeless, perfect and remote.

Thanatos pulled a pure-black iPad from thin air. Death tapped it a few times, then showed us the screen. There was a SMS there from Hades. It read: _If the half-bloods find t__he doors, let them through. If they haven't found the doors, then look for them and drag them out. If th__ey're dead, then good riddance. _

_P.S. My anniversary party in Tartarus starts tomorrow, one thirty. Don't be late!_

"Obviously, you're alive and you've found the doors, so I can let you all through." Thanatos said. "But are you sure you want to leave? Hades's anniversary parties with Persephone have brilliant entertainment. Not to mention the food and drinks in the buffet dinner…"

"We want to leave." Annabeth said, interrupting the god of death. "Can you open the doors?"

"Sure." Death said and the doors swung open. "But you'll miss out on the piñata…"

We ran through the doors, eager to be out of Tartarus. Oceanus snapped his fingers, and disappeared in a shower of green light. But instead of appearing in the Underworld, or even in Los Angeles, we came out in a dark room, lit only by a few greek fire candles. And standing in the room was the guy who got us in this mess in the first place.

"Nico?"

* * *

**I know what all of you are thinking: How the hell did Nico get there? The answer's in the next chapter. It takes place the same time this chapter did, but it's in Nico's POV. Sorry about the little confusion there.**

**The Doors of Death isn't captured by Gaea yet, so Thanatos is still in charge of it.**

**If you're wondering why this chapter took so long for me to write, the answer is this: Tychee hates me with a burning passion. I had a mild case of food poisoning, and when that was over, I immediately gotten the flu. I was having fever the whole time I wrote this chapter, so if there's any typos, sorry.**

**Anyway, till the next chapter! Hopefully I'll recover by then.**


	14. Chapter 14 Nico

**Okay, so all of you want to kill me for the extremely late update, but please hear me out first. Then you can take out the pitchforks and torches and bang down my door. I don't care. Well actually, I do. But never mind that.**

**All my excuses (yes, they're not good ones, but who cares?) are at the end of the chapter. I figured that since I made you all wait for a whole three freakin month for the chapter, I would be mean to make you wait another few seconds until you finished reading my "reasons". So here it is.  
**

**P.S. Is taking an eternity to update a crime in FF? If so, please don't sue me.**

**P.P.S. It's the final Nico chappie, so yay! I don't have anything against Nico, but I don't really like writing in his POV. His personality is just so damn complicated. After this, back to Percy and Katrina! Of course, the next chapter would take quite a while to come out. Why? You'll find out in the A/N bellow... **

**P.P.P.S. Nico here is super OOC, but I'm not feeling very...sane at the moment. For instance, Nico is a lot more sarcastic and snappish, which matches my current, cranky attitude. The reason for me being pissed will be explained at the A/N bellow too. I know, I know, authors are suppose to write well, no matter what they feel at the moment, and should let their feelings affect their chapters, but I'm writing as a way to let out my stress, so forgive me if my writing becomes rather...fierce. If you've read Maximum Ride, then my writing might sound like Max's at some parts.**

**Nico**

The good news? This is the last island. The bad news? It is the hardest challenge yet. Now I have to defeat Python, who was only ever defeated by Apollo, who's a freaking god. Me? Nope, not immortal, sorry to disappoint. So what can I do to win? What's my plan? Fact is, I have no idea.

When I get back, and if Annabeth is still alive, she's going to preach me about how important planning is, blah blah blah. And for once, I'm not going to care, for I'll be too relief that they're all out of Tartarus. Then we can continue on our quest to Frisco, tackle Lamia, and go back to camp in success. That is, if I survive this encounter.

What kind of weakness does Python have? Can't be none, right? Apollo shot it down with arrows, but I'm a horrid archer, barely above Percy. I'll have to slay it with a sword. Then I have to grab the Apple of Discord and somehow hightail out of here. Then I'll free my friends. But when you're a demigod, nothing goes according to plan.

I'll skip the part about my boring walk through the meadow, and go straight to the part where I reach the apple tree. It wasn't an ordinary apple tree, of course. Firstly, there was only one apple on the whole tree, and naturally, the apple was gold. Surprise, right? Not.

I looked around. Where was Python? He wasn't hiding, was he? Then I noticed the vine wrapped around the apple. If you looked closely, you'll realize it isn't a vine. Rather, a leaf green snake. A small one, of course, but still a snake. Are you kidding me? Apparently, the great and mighty Python, guardian of the Oracle of Delphi, slain only by Phoebus Apollo, god of the sun and whole lot of other things, is as tiny as a garden snake. What next? The snake has transforming abilities?

It seems that I spoke to soon though. For just as I thought that, the snake spring from it's current position and landed right in front of me. It grew steadily bigger until it was the size of Ladon, maybe even bigger. Great, so the snake _does_ have transforming abilities. Joy.

Then Python spoke. It came as a surprise as I never knew that he could. _"Challenger, are you here for the apple?"_ he hissed.

"Yes." I answered evenly. Was he going to let me take it without a fight? Please, let it be so. Then I can return to my dad's palace all the faster.

"_Then you will have to fight me for it. Prepare to die, demigod. I haven't fallen in millennium!"_ With that, he lunged at me, and my hopes came pummeling down. Guess he wasn't letting me go without some challenge. Bummer.

I scrambled to the side just in time to avoid getting smashed by Python's giant bulk. I drew my Stygian iron sword and slashed it at him. It bounced right off. ...damn, now how was I supposed to kill him?

I backed away from the huge-giant-snake-that-wants-to-kill-me-to-protect-some-stupid-apple, who was advancing slowly. Python bared his fangs at me and hissed, venom and saliva spewing from his mouth. Eww. Gross. Disgusting. Insert gagging motion here.

I threw my sword at him in an attempt to stab him in the mouth. Epic fail. Python ducked his head, and the blade flew harmlessly over. So now I'm facing a giant, seemingly invincible snake weaponless. Wonderful, can my life get any worse?

Now that it was clear that he was winning, Python took his time to finish me off. He slittered forward as if he had all the time in the world, slowly backing me into the tree. The golden Apple of Discord seemed to glow in the moonlight, gleaming right above me. Could I...?

I tensed, then leaped straight up, grabbing the apple. I fell into the tree's shadow and shadow-traveled away. The last thing I heard was Python's outrage screech before the shadows pulled me away.

**[I need a line break 'cause I'm so awesome—Apollo]**

Note to self: Never, _ever_ shadow-travel when your destination is miles and miles away. Even more so when you are in a mythical place. Unless you wish to commit suicide, don't ever attempt it.

The second I reached my room in Hades's castle, I collapsed on the bed, the apple still grasped in my hands. I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow. What can I say? With great power comes the great need to take a nap. **[**_**The Last Olympian**_** reference!]**

When I woke up, my first thought was: _Zzz...too tired, go back to sleep. Snooze... _My second thought was: _Wait, where's the apple?_ My hand was no longer holding on to its cold, golden skin. I jumped out frantically and began using the shadows to prob every corner. Not one inch was spared. Results? The apple had gone poof. It had completely vanished. Crap.

I sank down onto my bed, feeling absolutely distraught. The apple was gone. My father wouldn't give me the Keys. My friends would remain stuck in Tartarus. Oh, and Hades was going to flay me alive. We just failed the quest. _I_ just failed the quest. Not only that, I failed at everything. Now Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Katrina and me were going to die. And it was all because of me.

Yeah, I know, morbid thoughts.

Just then, a ghost floated into my room. "My Lord, Lord Hades requests your presence in the throne room immediately."

"Tell him I'll be there." I sighed. The ghost bowed and drifted off. Brilliant. Now I'll have to tell father what a failure I was. What kind of hero was I, not even able to keep an apple safe! Pathetic. I walked to the throne room, paused for a moment to gather my courage, then I pushed open the doors.

My father was lounging on the throne as usual, looking like a panther: swift, silent, deadly. I took a gulp and open my mouth to speak when my father interrupted. "Well done, son, for succeeding in your task." My mouth dropped open. Huh? Succeed? I lost the apple! Was Hades being sarcastic? But in all my life, he had never used sarcasm before. I didn't even know that he knew how to.

And did he just _praise_ me? Hades hates my guts. I thought that he would treat me better after the war, but _no_. He stopped the cutting remarks about how Bianca was so much better than me, and didn't glare at me whenever I enter his sight, but he was still more of my master than a father. And he absolutely _never_ congratulates me. I guess he must be being sarcastic after all.

"Um father...what do you mean? I err...lost the apple. I shadow-traveled here and fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, the apple was...gone. Stolen. I'm sorry for screwing this up, and I wouldn't fail again, but will you give me another task? Another chance for the Keys? If not, can you don't kill me? At least let my friends out—" I trailed off when my father held up his hand for silence. For some reason, he seemed really amused.

"Nico, you didn't fail."

To say that I was shocked would be to say that Typhon was only slightly big. Major understatement. _What_._ The_._ Heck_. How did I not fail? I pretty sure that loosing the apple meant fucking the whole thing up.

"Uh...huh?" was my incredibly intelligent answer.

And my father actually _laughed_. Hades, god of the Underworld, _laughed_. Okay, so it wasn't full-out, rolling on the floor laughing, but it was a huge improvement. First he praised me, then he laughs. What next? Dad french kissing me?

Eww, imagine that. Ack.

"The Apple of Discord is here." he reached into the shadows and pulled it out. "I sent a ghost to your room to collect it for safe keeping. It wasn't stolen. And about the Keys, you may have one. But if you lose it, I will personally torture you in the fields of punishment."

Hades opened his palm, showing one of his Keys. No, the Keys of Hades aren't actual keys, they're Keres claws engraved with ancient greek writings. I picked up the claw reverently and placed it in my pocket. The keys that I had accumulated on the islands had disappeared when I shadow-traveled away (surprise, surprise), so there was plenty of space to put the claw.

"Father, thank you, but what of my friends? Will you let them out of Tartarus?"

"I can't, for they seem to have found a way to escaped on their own." he said. "Thanatos has informed me that they are trying to exit via the Doors of Death. Oceanus let them to it, and is currently making negotiations to get them out." Oceanus? But why would a titan help them? I voiced out my question.

"It has to do with the new camper, and who her immortal parent is. She will tell you who he is on her own when she's ready, but in the meantime, beware of her. If she does anything suspicious, kill her." I stared at Hades blankly. Oookay, he want's me to kill Katrina. Or could it be some other new camper? But there's no other new camper in Tartarus. But why would he want me to kill Katrina? And if she was the one to get Percy, Annabeth and Thalia out of Tartarus, how can I kill her? It's not morally acceptable. Someone helps you, and you murder them. What gratitude. I am not going to do that, no way in Hades.

Father must have read my mind. "It's an order son. Kill her if you have to. It might mean the fall of Olympus." Again? But Katrina couldn't be as powerful as Kronos, could she? How could she cause our downfall?

"She isn't as powerful," Hades answered my unspoken question. "and I'm not going to tell you anymore. Now, do you want to greet your friends or not?"

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but then I hesitated. If I don't go to the Doors of Death soon, they might leave without me. "I'll be leaving then, father." I gave a small bow, then shadow-traveled out of the room.

I appeared in the House of Hades, the current entrance of the Doors of Death for about five years, and materialized just as my friends tumbled out of the Doors. Annabeth looked up and saw me standing in the shadows.

"_Nico?_"

**Yay, that's done with! I'm being very sarcastic in this chapter, because I have way too many thing that need to be done. Firstly, I have a ton of exams, and lots of projects-like, six to seven of them. And on top of that all, my Chinese is really lacking, and I need to buck up. So I apologize for this late chapter, but even then, this will be the last for a very long time. If I have the time, I might post one every once in a while...but only if I have time.**

**Sorry about that. Anyway, to the next chapter! (no matter how much later that might be.)**


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